Nabiki's Plan
by kayemsi
Summary: This is a variation of my story A Different Path Taken, where Nabiki decides to steal Ranma away from Akane. It shows the results of her plan.
1. Nabiki's Plan

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video. I have no ownership to these characters, or names. It is just for my amusement

Author's Note:  This is a chapter that I originally wrote for my story "A Different Path Taken".  I decided not to use it since it changed the mood of the story and made it much more angsty.  But since I liked the way the chapter wrote itself, I decided to post it.  The point of departure is Nabiki decided she wanted to fight Akane for Ranma and came up with a plan to attempt to steal him away from her.  We start this story at the point where Ranma has asked Akane to marry him, and show Nabiki's reaction.  Warning, this is not a story for fans of Nabiki.

Chapter 1 Nabiki's Plan

Ranma came back to the Tendo home after a long afternoon of shopping.  He had disappeared immediately after class that Saturday, knowing that he needed to be alone for what he wanted to do.  He had finally found what he was looking for.  It had taken him a long time, but he thought the search was worth it.  As he entered the house, he met Akane.  "Yo, Acchan, would ya like ta go out ta dinner tonight?  I'd like ta take my girlfriend out for a change.  This was a real long week with Mr. Kuonji here.  I could use a night out on the town," he said.

"I'd love to, Ranchan," Akane said, pleased, "I'll tell your mother that we won't be home for dinner.  She took one look at Kasumi when they got back this morning and told her to go straight to bed, and not to even think about housework.  Apparently, the trip to her mother-in-law took a lot out of her."

"Wear something really dressy, tonight.  I'd like tonight ta be real special," Ranma said, "Can we be ready in about an hour?  You just go get ready, I'll tell Mom we won't be home."

Akane nodded and went upstairs.  Ranma went into the kitchen and told his mother that they were going out.  After taking a quick shower, he headed upstairs to change.  He came back downstairs, wearing a very nice suit.  Kasumi met him at the foot of the stairs, and said, "Oh my, you certainly cleaned up nice tonight.  Are you going somewhere?"

Ranma nodded.  "Yes, Kasumi-chan.  I'm taking Akane out to thank her for being so understanding this past week," he said.  Then a vision of loveliness descended the stairs.  In a suddenly tight voice, he said, "Acchan, you're simply gorgeous."  He wondered why all of a sudden his collar had gotten so tight.

Akane blushed prettily as he took her arm.  "Tell them not to wait up, Sis.  We'll be out late tonight," Akane said.

Kasumi beamed and said, "You two look very nice tonight.  Have fun!"

Ranma slowly escorted Akane out the door and headed toward the gate.  There the limo that he had arranged was waiting.  After helping her into the car, he climbed in after her.  She leaned against his shoulder as the limo drove off.  It soon arrived at the restaurant that Ranma had selected.

"Oh, Ranchan, you remembered.  This is where we had our first date," Akane said happily.

Ranma smiled as he escorted her to the hostess.  He mentioned his name and they were quickly seated.  Akane's eyes grew wide as she realized that it was the same table.  There on the table, was a small bouquet of red roses with a card attached.  Akane's eyes misted as she read the note written on the card.  It said, 'To the girl I love, Ranma'

Ranma ordered wine for the two of them when the waitress appeared to take their drink order.  When she came back, he ordered shrimp tempura for the both of them, saying that he wanted to remind her again of their first date.  They sat there contentedly gazing at each other's eyes.  When the dinner arrived, they ate quietly. Finally, Akane asked, "What are you thinking, Ranchan?"

"That I'm the luckiest man alive.  I'm with the girl that I love, and my life is starting to make a little sense.  School is over for the year, and we will be juniors starting next week.  How about you?" Ranma said.

"Much the same.  I'm looking forward to the changes we'll see next year," Akane said.

They began to hear some music in the background.  They looked up and remembered that there was a small dance floor tucked away in one corner of the room. A music group had just started playing some dance music.  Several couples were already out on the dance floor, slow dancing together.  Akane looked wistfully at the couples, eyes misting just a bit.

Ranma said, "Akane, would you care to dance."

Akane's eyes widened.  She nodded, almost shyly, as Ranma helped her out of the chair and they walked over to the dance floor.  Ranma put his arm around her waist, and held her as they began to dance.  They began to move gracefully around the floor.  Akane rested her head against his chest and sighed contentedly.  When the music finally stopped, after several slow dance tunes, she found herself reluctant to let him go.  He smiled gently, and led her back to the table.

He hesitated, and then asked, "You 'bout ready to go?"  She nodded.  He paid the restaurant bill and helped her out of her chair.  They left the restaurant arm in arm, Akane carrying her roses.  As they were walking home from the wonderful evening, Ranma led Akane into the park.  They sat down on one of the park benches near the fountain.  Ranma held Akane in his arms for a long time, gazing into the liquid pools of her eyes.  She reached up and pulled his head forward and kissed him hungrily.  Finally, and reluctantly, he pulled away.  He hesitated, and then, pulled a small box from his jacket pocket.  He got down on one knee in front of her.  "Acchan," he asked nervously, "I know we said we were gonna wait for a while, but I got ta thinking.  Akane Tendo, will you marry me?"

Akane's eyes moistened with tears. "Ranchan, you big dope, of course I'll marry you.  I've wanted you to ask me for weeks," she said, as she opened the box, heart hammering in her chest.  Hearing those words, he took the engagement ring from the box and slowly slid it on her finger.  Akane grabbed her fiancé and kissed him with fervor.  "Now, you're really mine," she growled as she reluctantly broke the kiss.  She gazed at him, her eyes glistening with happiness.

Ranma gazed into those eyes and lost himself in the love he saw there.  "Acchan, I'm so glad you said yes.  I was really nervous since we had agreed to wait until we graduated but I just couldn't wait any longer."  He leaned forward and captured her lips with his own.

She kissed back, lips parting slightly under the pressure.  Her breathing quickened, and her pulse raced.  Eventually, they separated, both of them trying to get their passion under control.  Akane said, breathlessly, "Ranchan, we'd better stop.  Let's go on home.  I can't wait to tell everyone."

They walked home, hand-in-hand, sharing the occasional glance and smile.  As they entered the house, Nabiki was the only one present.  She eyed Akane suspiciously as they entered the living room.  Then she hissed in anger as she saw the engagement ring on her sister's hand.  'I can't let this happen.  Ranma is going to be mine, or he's not going to be anyone's.  I didn't work this hard to lose him now,' she thought.  Her mind raced, thinking of a way to derail this engagement.  An evil expression showed on her face as she thought of a plan.  'She doesn't deserve him,' she thought blinded by jealousy.  'Thankfully, everyone else is asleep already.  I just need to get to Father first thing in the morning,' she continued.  She rushed upstairs, ignoring her sister and Ranma.  They looked at her back going up the stairs and shrugged.

Kasumi and Tofu left early the next morning.  Kasumi had an early class, and Tofu had an early appointment.  Ranma headed out to the dojo to workout, while Akane had her morning jog.

Nabiki confronted her father as he was leaving his room.  "Father, we need to talk," Nabiki said, as she led him back into his room.  She knelt on the floor and said, "Gomen nasai, Father.  I have lost my honor.  For some time, I have secretly been seeing a young man.  Someone else cared for him, someone we both cared for, so we pretended not to be together.  We didn't want to hurt her.  Unfortunately, our passion could not be denied, and I am now carrying his child."

Soun went demon-head and snarled, "Who is this person?"

"That is where it gets bad, Father.  My lover is Ranma," she said tearfully, "I wanted to stop our relationship when Akane fell in love with him, but he refused.  You have to believe me; I would never have hurt my sister.  I love her too much for that."

"I need to talk to his parents and then I will talk to Akane.  You will be married today," Soun growled.

Several hours later, Ranma finished his workout in the dojo and headed back into the house.  He was a bit surprised that Akane hadn't joined him as she had said she was going to after her jog.  'I wonder what happened to her,' he thought as he entered the bathroom.  He quickly washed up and headed toward the stairs to check on Akane.  Before he got there, an obviously angry Soun confronted him

"Ranma, would you join us," he said, "We need to talk."

Ranma followed, curious and a little concerned.  "Is there something wrong with Akane," he asked anxiously.

Soun turned, and said, "She's no longer your concern."  Ranma stopped when he found his parents and Nabiki sitting in the living room, his mother's face very pale.  A priest was standing inconspicuously against the wall.

"Boy, we've decided that it's time for this nonsense to stop," Gemna boomed, "Family honor requires that the Tendo and the Saotome families be joined."

Ranma interrupted, "Pop, Akane and I are still too young to wed.  You promised that we would wait until I was eighteen.  You even signed a contract to that affect.  Where is Akane, anyway?  She and I have something –"

"I told you already that she is no longer your concern," Soun interrupted icily, "You will marry Nabiki.  You must do that to restore your honor."

Ranma began getting angry.  "I love Akane.  I asked her to marry me last night.  She is the only woman that I will marry," he snarled.

"Nabiki is pregnant with your child," Nodoka said, "You have no choice.  Anything else would not be manly."  Her hand drifted to the hilt of her blade.

Ranma stared at his mother in shock.  "I don't know where you got that idea from.  Nabiki may or may not be pregnant.  I don't know about that.  But it's physically impossible for me to be the father of anyone's child," he said, "I've never had sex with anyone."

"Oh Ranma darling, how can you deny those nights of passion we had," Nabiki said tearfully.

Ranma looked at her, his eyes cold as ice.  She took a step back, beginning to fear him.  "I think I would have noticed three people in my bed, Nabiki, and I know Akane would have said something.  You would destroy your sister's happiness because of your insane jealousy?  I didn't think you hated her that much.  Were you so blinded by that jealousy that you honestly thought this plan would work?  Or did you not care, so long as you hurt Akane?  The kids at school always said you were a cold-hearted, mercenary bitch.  I defended you, saying that wasn't the Nabiki I knew.  I'm sorry I was wrong and that they were right," he said, "Get out of my sight Tendo.  If you've cost me Akane, then you better pray to whatever you believe in that I never see you again."

"Boy, don't talk to your future wife that way," Gemna began.

"As for you, what did it take, how much money did she have to offer ya?" Ranma said, his battle aura glowing white with rage.  Gemna shrank back in fear.

"Ranma, Nabiki wouldn't lie about this," Soun said.

Ranma whirled to face him and said, "Your wrong.  You don't know your daughter at all, do you?  She would lie, cheat and steal to get something she wanted," Ranma spat out.

"Ranma, don't talk about Nabiki like that," Nodoka began.

Ranma froze, not believing that she was still defending that bitch.  Finally, he said, icily, "Mrs. Saotome."

Gemna said, "She's your mother.  You can't talk to her like that!"

"Mother, she's not my mother!  My mother would have listened to what I said and would have been open-minded enough to want to know the truth.  No, this is some stranger, that I just thought I knew," Ranma snarled.  Nodoka gasped and her face went ashen.

Ranma turned to go upstairs.  Soun blocked him.

"Out of the love I have for Akane and Kasumi, I won't hurt you Mr. Tendo.  Please get out of my way," Ranma growled.

Soun said, "No, I won't let you pass.  IF you won't marry Nabiki, then you are no longer welcome here."

"Boy, no son of mine will betray our family like this.  You will marry Nabiki," Gemna said.

Ranma froze, his anger building.  Then he shivered as he got his emotions under control.  "Fine, if that's the way you want it.  Mr. Tendo, thank you for your hospitality.  I'm sorry that it had to end this way.  As for you, Saotome, you have no son.  I renounce you and your name, you honorless cur," Ranma said in an emotionless voice.  "Now, if you'll let me get my belongings, I'll get out of your house."

Soun slowly shook his head.  Ranma stared at him in disbelief.  "I didn't think that you would be this petty," he said as he started heading toward the front door.  Gemna attempted to stop him, but Ranma knocked him out of the house with a ki blast.  He stared at his mother and then turned to Nabiki.

"My congratulations, Tendo.  You've destroyed my family and my happiness.  I hope you're satisfied with the results of your stupidity," he said icily.  He then vanished out the doorway.

Nodoka stared at the doorway in shock and then ran after her son.  "Ranma," she began as he went out the front door.  He stopped and then squared his shoulders.  He ignored her and went through the door.  She ran to follow.  There she saw Akane with two backpacks.  Akane said something to Ranma that she couldn't hear.  Ranma's face lit up.  Akane gave him one of the backpacks and kissed him.  She grabbed his hand and they left through the gate.  Nodoka collapsed on the ground, crying bitterly.

Several hours later, Kasumi and Tofu returned and entered the somber house.  Tofu looked at his wife in concern and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Kasumi's face wore an uncommon expression.  She was furious and it showed.  She nodded to her husband and then went to find her father.  Tofu looked at her, and then went upstairs.  Kasumi entered the living room to find her father crying, with Gemna and Nodoka looking worriedly at him.  "Father," Kasumi said in an icy voice, "What foolishness is this?  What have you done, you fool?"

"Wah, my daughter is angry with me," Soun wailed, "I've lost one daughter already.  Akane ran off and renounced me.  That honorless bastard Ranma ran off with her, leaving Nabiki with a fatherless child."

"How could you have been so stupid?  Ranma would never have betrayed Akane with anyone.  He loves her and asked her to marry him," Kasumi said.

"Nabiki wouldn't have lied," Soun began, "Not about something like this."

"Not only would she lie, she did lie.  Remember, Tofu is her doctor.  She had a checkup two days ago.  She wasn't pregnant then," Kasumi said, "I'm extremely disappointed in all of you."

Nabiki made the mistake of coming downstairs.  "Hi, sis," Nabiki said to Kasumi.

Kasumi turned on Nabiki and spat out, "I'm sorry, do I know you?  I only have one sister and you're not her.  Father, you didn't lose one daughter today.  You lost two.  Tofu and I are leaving.  Congratulations, both of you.  You have managed to destroy two families today."

Tofu came downstairs with their luggage.  He stared coldly at both Nabiki and his father-in-law, and then shook his head in disgust.  As the two of them headed toward the door, Nodoka stopped them.

"Do you know where my son is," she asked, hopefully.

"I know where my sister and her fiancé are," Kasumi said, "I don't believe you have a son, anymore.  He was extremely disappointed in you, as am I."

Nodoka hung her head in shame.  She said, "Tell Ranma that I'm sorry.  Please give him this.  It belongs to him now."  She handed Tofu her katana blade.  "Tell him that I am not worthy to carry my family honor blade anymore.  He deserves to wear this blade.  Tell him that I hope one day he will forgive me.  I shouldn't have doubted him."

Kasumi's eyes glittered.  "You hurt him a great deal, Mrs. Saotome.  I'll tell him what you said," she said coldly.

"What happened to Auntie?" Nodoka said softly,, "Oh what have I done?"  She began crying again.

Kasumi's eyes softened slightly.  "Nodoka, I don't think he meant everything he said today.  Give yourselves time, and then call me.  I'll arrange a meeting."

Nodoka whispered, "Thank you, dear Kasumi."

Kasumi and Tofu disappeared through the doorway.  Soun broke down crying.  Nabiki stood there, her face ashen as she finally came to understand what she had done.

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That evening in the small, two-room apartment over the Ono clinic, the mood was extremely somber.  "Kasumi, I'm glad we ran into ya this afternoon, but I didn't mean to make ya turn your back on your family," Ranma said, "We just weren't sure where we could go!"

"Ranchan, after what happened and about what they were trying to do to the two of you, I couldn't have lived with myself if we had stayed there.  The four of us will manage," Kasumi said, "What do you plan on doing?"

"We can't get married.  We're underage and obviously won't get our parent's permission," Akane said bitterly, "We need to finish up at school and unfortunately, it's too late for anywhere else but Furinkan."

"I'm glad you thought of calling Ukyo and some of our friends, Acchan.  At least some people will know the truth if that bitch decides to spread any lies tomorrow," Ranma said, a little angrily.

"We'll face that if it happens, Ranchan.  I think this ring I'm wearing will cause more excitement anyway," Akane said, a little happier as she gazed at the engagement ring on her finger.

"Your mother knows she behaved badly, today, Ranma.  The fact that she gave you her honor blade shows that.  I hope that the message that came with it will help," Tofu said.

Ranma sighed and then said, "My behavior wasn't any better.  I felt betrayed and lashed out at her.  I don't deserve to carry this blade, either.  It's too soon, the wounds are too fresh for both of us, but we do need to talk.  I said some things that I need to apologize for."  He yawned and said, "It's getting late, and I'm worn out.  I'm gonna go get ready for bed and try ta sleep."

Everyone got up.  Kasumi kissed Akane and Ranma goodnight and she and her husband went into the bedroom.

Akane found her pajamas and changed into them.  Ranma went to get some water to change but Akane stopped him.  She said, "No Ranchan, I want my fiancé with me from now on."

Ranma looked at her in surprise.  "I thought we agreed to wait until we got married," he said.

Akane blushed, and then replied, "That's not what I meant, Ranchan.  I know our emotions are running kind of strong right now.  I just want to hold onto my man is all!"

Ranma smiled and said, "I love hearing ya call me that, Acchan.  I'm yours and no one else's."  They laid down on the futon and Ranma held Akane in his arms.  He kissed her and said, "I'm sorry, Acchan.  I wish this hadn't a happened."

"We'll get through it, love," Akane said sleepily, "None of this was our fault."

"Goodnight, my beautiful tomboy," Ranma said with a yawn.  They fell asleep still in each other's arms.


	2. First Response

Chapter 2 First Response

Soun stared in disbelief as his daughter Kasumi and her husband stormed out of the room after exchanging words with Nodoka Saotome.  He couldn't believe what had gone wrong.  When Nabiki had told him she was pregnant, and showed him all of the documentation, all he could think of was to see that she was married to the father.  Honor demanded that happen before all Nerima knew, and they lost face.  He turned to his middle daughter, now only daughter, and said, "Don't worry Nabiki.  I'll make sure that worthless cur pays for deserting you and his child!  No one hurts my little girl like that."

Nodoka looked at him in shock.  "Soun, what do you mean by that?  Didn't anything that Ranma or Kasumi say mean anything to you?  Nabiki isn't pregnant, and Ranma isn't going to marry her.  He's in love with Akane and actually proposed to her," she said, not believing that he could be that delusional.

Soun ignored her, instead turning to talk to his old friend.  "How could you have raised your son to be so dishonorable that he would run out on my child in her time of need, Gemna?" Soun cried, "Unless you change his mind, the schools will never be joined!"  The Tendo Waterworks Company began churning out tears at high rate.

Gemna looked at him blearily, after spending the entire afternoon slowly getting drunk on Soun's sake.  He thought to himself, 'My retirement is in jeopardy.  How could that ungrateful boy do this after everything I have done for him!'

In a voice as cold as ice, Nodoka said, "The only dishonorable actions in this whole sorry episode have been done by the four of us in this room, Soun.  We caused this situation, not Ranma.  We drove him to this.  I should have listened to him.  I knew he loved Akane and only her.  I should never have allowed myself to be swayed by the three of you."

Soun roused from his crying to say, "So you're siding with your son after all, Nodoka.  In that case, you are no longer welcome in this house."

A sudden chill enveloped the room as the temperature dropped twenty degrees.  Nodoka gazed at Soun.  A trick of the light made her eyes appear as if they were now amber in color.  She bowed and said, in a dreadful, emotionless voice, "Very well, Tendo."  She turned to leave.

A tired, quiet voice said, "Auntie, stop, please.  I'll talk to Father and make him understand."  Nabiki threw herself to the floor, and bowed, pressing her face against the floor, as she said, "Gomen Nasai.  Father, I can't do this anymore.  I've done too much damage already.  Father, I'm not pregnant, I've never even slept with anyone, much less Ranma.  I lied to you so that you would force Ranma to marry me.  I was desperate because I love him and I knew that he was engaged to Akane.  When I saw the ring on her finger last night, something snapped inside me.  Do you think that if I had been in my right mind that I would have come up with a plan this stupid?  I didn't care if I hurt Akane.  In fact I wanted her to hurt.  She stole the man I loved away from me, and she needed to pay!  And then, he turned that angry look on me, and for the first time, I was actually afraid of Ranma.  I couldn't say anything and I watched my scheme fall apart around me."

Soun's world collapsed as he was forced to face the reality he had been ignoring since his wife had died.  "Then," he said, in a shaky voice, "Everything that Ranma and Kasumi said was true?"

"Hai," Nabiki whispered.  She turned to Nodoka and said, "Auntie, please, I beg of you, don't hate me.  I've already driven four of the people I care about away.  I couldn't stand it if you left too.  I bribed your husband into supporting this fiasco.  He didn't care who Ranma married out of the three of us.  He just wants control of the inheritance when it happens.  He didn't think Ranma and Akane would wed soon, and I promised not to stand in his way if he helped.  I'm so sorry Father, Auntie."

Soun stared at his daughter in dismay and then suddenly his shoulders slumped appearing very, very old at that moment.  "Oh, Nabiki, child, what have we done?" he said in a broken voice, "You're my only daughter now."  He started sobbing again.

Nodoka said coldly, "Nabiki, I can't forgive you for what you did.  What you did was horrible, but I can't forgive myself either.  I don't hate you, child, but right now I'm not particularly fond of either of us.  I think it is best that I leave.  This place has become hateful to me."  She turned to her drunken husband and said, with a voice that left frostbite behind in its wake, "As for you, husband of mine, it's a good thing that I gave Ranma my sword; otherwise you would be dead.  Until my son returns to me, it would be best if you stayed out of my sight."  Gemna began cringing, shocked into soberness by the sting in her voice.  She turned and left the room, leaving the remains of the Tendo family and her worthless husband behind her.

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Ukyo answered the phone at her restaurant, "Hello, Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant, how can I help you?"

The voice on the other end of the line said, "Ucchan, Hi.  It's me, Ranma.

Ukyo replied, "Oh, hello, Ranchan.  What's up?"

He replied, "There's no easy way ta say this. I asked Acchan to marry me last night, and she accepted.  I wanted ya to be the first to know outside the family."  There was dead silence on the line for a while.  "Ucchan, you still there?" he asked.

Then he heard a tired voice say, "Thanks for having the courtesy to tell me first.  I thought you were going to be just boyfriend and girlfriend.  What caused you to change your mind?"

"Nabiki was showing signs of not accepting that I love Akane.  So long as we stayed boyfriend and girlfriend, she was thinking that maybe I wasn't serious.  I was tired of all of that.  I love Akane and I decided ta ask her," Ranma replied.

"Well, I'll be honest, Ranchan.  This isn't totally unexpected.  You've been leaving clues behind for a while.  I won't deny that it still hurts.  The surprise is that it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would," she replied.

Ranma said, "One other thing, it didn't go real well today; so don't believe any rumors you might hear."

"What do you mean by that, Ranma?" Ukyo asked.

"We hadn't had a chance to tell the parents that I had asked Akane to marry me.  Nabiki tried to force me ta marry her and got the parents to back her up.  I refused so Akane, Kasumi, Tofu and I left the Tendo home," Ranma said, tiredly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sugar.  How's everybody taking it?" Ukyo asked, concern showing in her voice.

"About as well as can be expected, I suppose.  We're all extremely angry at our parents at the moment.  I need ta talk ta Ryoga if he's around, too," Ranma said.

"Yeah, he's right here," Ukyo said.

"Ucchan, thanks for being so understanding," Ranma said, softly.

Ukyo handed Ryoga the phone and said, "Ranma wants to talk to you."  She disappeared upstairs.

"Ranma, what did you do to Ukyo?" Ryoga snarled.

"Told her that Akane and I are engaged," Ranma said with a sigh, "She's still not completely over me and it hurt her feelings that I picked someone else."

Ryoga said, "Well, congratulations, both of you.  I'll go up and talk to her.  Maybe I can calm her down."

"Thanks, pal.  We owe ya one," Ranma said, sounding relieved, "She needs someone's shoulder ta cry on, I'm glad your there for her."

Ryoga said, "Goodbye," and hung up the phone.

He went upstairs feeling strangely relieved, and knocked on Ukyo's door.  As Ryoga entered the upstairs apartment, he saw Ukyo sitting on the couch, looking sad.  He walked over and sat down next to her.  She threw herself into his arms and began crying on his shoulder.  Ryoga closed his arms around her and held her close.  She said haltingly, between her sobs, "I knew he was going to ask her to marry him, I just didn't think that he was going to ask her this soon.  We just dissolved our family agreement, after all.  I know he doesn't love me the way I do him.  I just didn't think it would hurt like this.  The funny thing is I was also feeling relieved when he told me."

"Just let it out, Ucchan.  You'll feel better when you do," Ryoga said gently into her hair.  Ukyo began to feel the warmth of his embrace.  To her surprise, she had begun to feel better as soon as he had held her.

She pulled herself away from him and gazed into his eyes.  She saw the concern for her reflected there.  Just the fact that he was here for her seemed to break the band of ice that had formed around her heart when she had head Ranma say those words.

Ryoga whispered, "Ucchan, I can't bear to see you unhappy.  What can I do to help you get over this?"  Ukyo surprised both of them by reaching up and kissing him.  He started to pull away, afraid for her, but then succumbed to the moment.  They kissed for what seemed like forever.

Finally, Ukyo pulled herself away.  "Ryoga, I'm sorry for using you like that.  I shouldn't have done that to you.  I just felt so happy in your arms," she said.

Ryoga replied, "Ukyo, you didn't do anything that I didn't want you to do.  I'm just afraid that you may be rushing things a bit, is all."

Ukyo smiled, a little sadly.  "Thanks, Ryoga.  You're right; I am feeling confused right now.  All I know is that I needed someone to hold me and help me through this and I hoped it would be you.  What that says, I don't know," Ukyo said.

"Ukyo, just give yourself a little time.  I'll be there waiting for you when you're ready," Ryoga replied.

She gazed at him, her eyes shining.  Then she said, "Ryo-chan, I don't think you'll need to wait a long time.  I don't want to be alone tonight.  Would you mind staying up here in the living room in case I need a shoulder again?" she asked.

Ryoga smiled and said, "Sure, if that makes you feel better.  Now, do you think you're ready to face the rest of the world?"

"Yes, just let me go wash my face, and I'll come right down," Ukyo replied.  She rose from the couch and went into the bathroom.  After washing her face, she stared at the mirror for several minutes.  'Okay, Ukyo girl, pull yourself together.  It's not the end of the world, after all,' she thought.  She walked out into the living room and said, "Okay, sugar.  We've got a restaurant to run.  I've indulged myself long enough."  She smiled fondly at her friend and they walked downstairs.

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That night, Ukyo and Ryoga finished cleaning up after their dinner.  She asked, "There's a couple of good movies on tonight.  Do you want to watch one of them with me?  Later on, I can make some popcorn."

"That sounds like fun, Ucchan.  I could stand a shower, first, though.  Can I borrow your bathroom?" Ryoga asked.  She nodded as he headed toward his room.  He came back out carrying some clothing and she led him up to the apartment.

Ryoga went on into the bathroom.  Soon, Ukyo heard the sound of the shower running, so she went into her room and grabbed something to change into.  She walked back out in time to see a freshly scrubbed Ryoga walking out of her bathroom and heading towards the door to the stairs.  She caught him and pointed him toward the futon.  After watching to make sure he made it, she went into the bathroom and showered herself.  She dressed in her pajamas and put her robe on over that and walked out and sat down on the futon next to Ryoga.  She turned to him and said, "Ryo-chan, thanks for being here with me.  You're a real friend."

He put his arm around her and said, "Ucchan, like I told you this morning, I'm here for you.  I enjoy being around you."  She leaned her head against his shoulder.

Ukyo smiled, as she said, "That means a lot to me, Ryo-chan.  I enjoy being with you, too.  Maybe we can go out dancing or something this week, while school's out."

"I'd like that.  All I can do is slow dancing, though.  Is that all right with you?" Ryoga asked.

"Sugar that would be nice.  It would give me an excuse to hold onto you so you couldn't wander off," she said, giggling.  She reached over and turned the television on using her remote control.  She changed the channel to the one the movie was going to be on.

"Oh, the movie 'Titanic' is the one you wanted to watch," he said, "That's supposed to be pretty good."

She slowly got up and poured the two of them a glass of red wine and brought them over to the futon.  She snuggled back into his embrace, and handed him his glass.  She proposed a toast, saying, "To good friends."  He echoed her toast as they clinked glasses and then sipped their wine.  They sat back in companionable silence and watched the movie.

Finally, the movie was over.  Ukyo had gone through several tissues, crying at several of the scenes, especially the one toward the end where the hero had frozen in the icy waters and drifted away.  Ryoga reached over and turned off the television with the remote.  He smiled at Ukyo, and said, "You're just a sucker for these romantic shows, aren't you?"

"Hey," she protested, "I thought I saw a tear or two in your eyes, too."

"Yeah, I'm a sucker for them.  I like the ones where the guy gets the girl better, though," Ryoga said.

"You do, huh," she said, an odd light in her eyes.  She reached up and kissed him hungrily.  He returned the kiss, and then reluctantly broke it.

"Ucchan, let's not rush this.  I want this to work, but I need to know that it's because you like me, not because you're rebounding from Ranma," Ryoga said gently.

"Ranma, who?" she said with a giggle.

He smiled, and said, "Good answer, but it's too soon.  I think it's time for us to go to bed."  He blushed as he saw the way she looked at him, and said, stammering, "To sleep, separate beds, you minx."

She kissed him again, and said, "Good night, Ryo-chan."

"Good-night, Ucchan.  Have pleasant dreams," he replied.  He watched as she walked into her bedroom and shut the door, swaying her hips seductively as she went.

He sighed, turned off the light and went to sleep on the futon.

----------------------

April had come, so the new school year had started.  On their first day of class, Ranma and Akane walked hand-in-hand into their classroom.  Their classmates had gotten used to that sight by now. They weren't expecting the Four Horsemen of the Christian Apocalypse to ride through the schoolyard anymore.  Stars weren't falling from the sky, the sun was still rising in the east, no natural disasters were happening.

As they made their way to their respective desks, Ranma was glad to see that Ukyo was sitting at her desk.  She smiled at him, a little wanly, her beautiful face a bit sad, but the pain that he was afraid that he was going to see was missing.  'Thank you, Ryoga.  I don't know what ya said ta her, but I owe ya one,' he thought.  Ryoga was sitting next to Ukyo, watching her intently.

As Akane sat down, a stray ray of sunlight came through the window and caught on one of the facets of her ring, causing the ring to glow.  Yuki saw it and squealed in excitement.  "Akane, what's that?" she said, pointing.

"Nothing much," Akane deadpanned, "Just my engagement ring."  All of the girls, except for Ukyo of course, rushed to her desk.  Everyone oohed and ahed in amazement and wonder.  The guys started to approach Ranma but when they saw the stormy look on his face, they all scattered to their desks, wisely deciding that he wasn't in the mood for being teased.  Finally, the sensei walked into the room and called it to order.  Ranma and Akane refused the notes their friends tried to pass them.

At lunch, Ranma and Akane snuck off for some privacy.  He had picked her up and bounded out to the windowsill of their classroom and then up to the roof of the school.  There they sat down to enjoy their bentos.  Ranma opened his and looked at it suspiciously.  Feeling his fiancées gaze upon him, he closed his eyes and ate the first bite.  He opened his eyes in surprise and said, "Acchan, this tastes really good.  It looks a bit odd, but that's okay."  She sighed in relief, and then bristled slightly.  Ranma quickly finished the rest of his lunch and smiled at his lovely fiancée.  "Akane, it's all good.  You did a good job," he said warmly.  He leaned over and kissed her.  Suddenly, she felt so much better.

"Ranma," she said hesitantly, "now that we're engaged, there's something that we need to change."

Ranma gulped.

"It's about your speech habits.  Do you really want to sound like a dumb jock the rest of your life?" she said sweetly, hitting him with her most winsome look.

Ranma stared back at her, like a pole axed ox and said, "No, dear, whatever you want."

"Promise me you'll try to use proper grammar.  I know you can do it," she said, batting her eyes at him.

"Sure, Acchan," Ranma said, and then he added with a smirk, "You're right, though, I do need ta learn ta talk, er I mean, to speak correctly."

'Well, that went easier than I thought it would,' Akane thought to herself.

"I'm getting tired of sounding like Pop, anyway," Ranma continued, "He's definitely the dumb martial artist in person.  That's not a good role model.  It'll take a while, but I do need ta, sorry, to change my speech if I want to impress people when we start to really teach.  You'll need to help, dear."

She leaned over and kissed him.  "It's a deal," she said, "I'll just glare at you if you backslide."

"I thought I'd find you two up here," a quiet voice said behind them.

They turned to see Nabiki approaching them from the rooftop door.  She suddenly stopped as if she had run into a brick wall, recoiling from the cold expressions on the two faces in front of her.

"Do I know you?" Akane said, icily.

Ranma sat there with his arms folded across his chest, and said, "What the hell do you want?"

Nabiki closed her eyes as if in pain, and then said, bitterly, "I can't have what I want.  I can't even have what I need.  I need your forgiveness and I want my family back.  Neither of those is going to happen, at least not easily.  I came to apologize to both of you.  Not that an apology is going to be enough."

"No it's not," said a stone-faced Akane, "Now leave, before I get angry."

Nabiki sighed, and said, "Ranma, your mother is hurting very badly.  She's very mad at herself for not trusting you.  She left last night and went back home.  If you can't forgive me, can you at least talk to her?"

"We need some time apart first, Tendo," Ranma said.  Then he added, "Thanks, you didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did.  You can hate me all you want.  But she didn't deserve what I did to her, either," Nabiki said, sadly, "Sis, you need to talk to Father as well."

"Sorry, I'm not your sister anymore, remember.  He's not anyone I want to talk to, ever," Akane said, starting to get angry.

"Akane, I'll always be your sister and he will always be our father.  Nothing I did can change that fact.  You know that Father has always been weak since Mother died.  I used that to manipulate him.  Just think about that," Nabiki said.  She bowed stiffly to them and left.

The bell signaling the end of the lunch period sounded, so Ranma picked Akane up and jumped to the next level down.  From there he jumped to the top of one of the covered entryways and then down to the ground.  He was about to set her down, when they were interrupted by Kuno's voice.  "Hold, varlet, unhand the fair Akane Tendo.  A vile rumor has reached my ear.  I, Tatewaki Kuno, upperclassman, the Rising Star of Furinkan High, the undefeated champion, also known as the Blue Thunder, forbid this engagement.  I will soundly thrash you, Saotome, and free the fair Akane from your sorcerous grasp."

"Right, Kuno.  You and what army?" Ranma smirked as he swung Akane down to the ground.  Akane was glowing bright red she was so furious.  Kuno charged Ranma, swinging his katana blade, attempting to cut Ranma down where he stood.  Ranma dodged but the blade caught his arm, cutting it deeply.  Before Ranma could do anything, Akane fired a ki blast with all of the energy she had gathered to protect the man she loved.  The blast hit Kuno dead on in his chest and knocked him into a nearby tree hard enough to drop the tree on top of him.

Akane stormed over to Kuno and screamed at the semi-conscious Kuno, "You don't tell me who I can date, much less who I can marry!!! What I do with my life is none of your business, you samurai-wanna-be.  The next time you pull a stunt like this, I won't hold back!"  Kuno stared at her, his eyes beginning to glaze over, and then he passed out from the pain.  With that, she claimed his sword, stormed back and grabbed Ranma by his good arm and dragged him off towards Tofu's clinic.

A total silence fell.  One of the braver students finally walked over to Kuno and checked on him.  He said, "We'd better get the nurse.  He's out cold, fortunately.  He's got a broken arm for sure."

Akane burst through the door of her brother-in-law's clinic.  Tofu looked up startled and then sprang into action.  He quickly disinfected the wound and stitched it up with several very neat strokes.  "What caused this, Akane?  It looks like he was cut by that sword blade," he asked.

"That's what it was, all right.  That baka Kuno attacked Ranma with this katana blade.  Ranma didn't dodge quickly enough, because I took too long to get out of his arms.  I want to call the police and press assault charges.  I'm tired of this," she said, angrily, "I may have really hurt Kuno when I hit him.  He needs to be stopped before I do something I'll regret."

Tofu called the local precinct office and spoke briefly to someone there.  He came back and said, "They'll send someone over here to take your statement, Akane.  They already have an officer going over to the school.  Kuno is already at the hospital.  I'm afraid you broke his arm, and he may have a cracked rib or two as well, according to the desk officer."

Akane stared at him in shock.  Ranma winced as he put arms around her and hugged her.  "Acchan, it's not your fault.  You were trying to protect me," he said gently as she began to cry on his shoulder.

"I know, Ranchan, I should have kept it under control.  But when I saw all that blood coming out of your arm, I got so angry with Kuno.  I just lost it, I'm sorry," she said, sobbing.

"It's okay, dear.  You may have overreacted a bit, is all.  Remember what I said about staying in control of your emotions," Ranma replied, chiding her gently, "I think this lesson will teach you that.  I'm just sorry it had to happen this way."

"Ranma, you need to take it easy.  Once the officer is done with you, both of you need to go upstairs.  You need some rest.  You did lose a lot of blood," Tofu said.

A middle-aged officer walked into the clinic.  He asked, "Is there an Akane Tendo here?"

Akane lifted her head from Ranma's shoulder and said, "Here."  The officer looked aghast at the bloody katana blade that Akane had dropped on the floor.  Akane related what had happened, with Ranma and Tofu adding comments as appropriate.  The officer took down the statements from all three of them, and took photographs of the damage to Ranma's arm.  He then carefully collected the katana blade.

Ranma said, "When your done with that katana blade, I believe it belongs to us now."

"I understand, sir.  I'll need your shirt as evidence as well, Mr. Saotome," the officer said politely.  Tofu helped him pull it off and then Ranma handed it to the officer.  After taking Akane's fingerprints, he said, "Miss Tendo, I suggest you go home.  You look pretty shaken yourself."  He handed her his business card and then bowed.  He then turned and left the clinic.

Akane helped Ranma off the exam table and then, with one arm around his waist, helped him climb upstairs.  "Thanks, Acchan.  I am a bit woozy," Ranma said, a little groggily.  By the time Akane had gotten Ranma to the apartment, he was feeling a bit better.

As they entered, Kasumi greeted them.  She looked at the shirtless Ranma and saw the stitches in his arm.  Then she frowned when she noticed his pale color and said, "Tofu came up to let me know what had happened.  Let's get him into bed where he can warm up.  I've got some broth cooking downstairs in the kitchen to help with the blood loss."  Akane helped Ranma into the futon.  She crawled in with him and held her fiancé in her arms.  Kasumi entered the room, carrying two bowls of broth.

Akane helped him sit up while Kasumi fed him.  After finishing the first bowl, and nearly the second, Ranma said, rustily, "Enough, Kasumi-chan.  Believe it or not, that bottomless pit I call a stomach is full."  His color was back to near normal, and he grinned at her weakly.  Kasumi sighed in relief that he was bouncing back from what could have been a serious injury.  Ranma leaned forward and kissed her lightly, and then turned and kissed Akane.  "Thanks for worrying about me, Kasumi-chan.  You too, Acchan.  Between the two of you though, I'm in good hands," he said.

"You need to get a little sleep, Ranchan.  That will help you heal quicker as well," Kasumi said, "I'll make sure no one disturbs you.  If it's all right, I'm going to call your mother and let her know what happened."

"Sure, go ahead.  She moved back home, though.  Please tell her that we'll come see her tomorrow.  This changes things a bit," Ranma said.

"Don't worry, Sis.  I'll take care of him," Akane said.  The two girls left the room, Akane going to the bathroom and Kasumi going back downstairs to the kitchen with the bowls.  Ranma was just starting to get comfortable, when Akane came back in.  She had changed out of her school uniform.  She climbed into the futon next to him, blushing as she realized he was just wearing his boxers and t-shirt.

"Acchan, not that I mind, but what are you doing?" Ranma asked in surprise.

"Like I told Kasumi, I'm taking care of you," Akane replied.  Ranma thought about that for second and then smiled.  Akane snuggled up to his back.  "Now, you just close your eyes and try to get some rest, Ranchan," she ordered.

"Acchan, thanks for helping today.  I could have beaten him, even with this arm, but I would have lost a lot more blood," he said sleepily.

She smiled happily and said, "I'm going to be your partner, Ranchan.  That means I'll guard your back, just like you'll guard mine."  She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of his breathing as he drifted off to sleep.

Author's notes:  First thanks for all of the reviews on the first chapter.  I enjoy constructive criticism.  I'm always interested in how I can improve what I've written.  Hopefully, this chapter indicates that.  Secondly, I didn't use this in the original story because I didn't know where to go with it without destroying the mood of that story.  I wanted it to stay WAFFY, and putting this arc into it would have prevented that.  This one will stay angsty for a while, at least.  Thirdly, there will be some similarities in the two stories as you can already tell from this chapter.  Anyway, thanks again.  Read and enjoy, I hope.


	3. Second Chances

Author's note: There is a mild lime scene in this chapter. And yes there will be some similarities between this story and the main story.

Chapter 3 Second Chances

That evening after Tofu and Kasumi had disappeared into the bedroom, Ranma started to get some water again to change, but Akane stopped him. "Remember what I told you last night," she growled seductively, "I want my fiancé with me from now on." They crawled into the futon together.

Akane held her fiancé and kissed him hungrily. Ranma reached out and held the love of his life close to him. He could feel her body where she pressed up against him. Suddenly, Akane growled, and rolled Ranma over onto his back and straddled him. She pulled one of his hands and placed it on her breast. He froze for a second and then he brought his other hand up to the other breast and slowly began to caress them gently through her pajama top. Her nipples came erect under his hands. She leaned forward and kissed him, parting her lips, her tongue darting forward.

Akane began to unbutton her top, when suddenly they heard some moaning. Akane's eyes grew wide and she began to laugh. Ranma said, "I don't remember Kasumi doing that on the last trip." Akane blushed as she realized what she had been thinking a moment before. She rolled off of Ranma.

"Ranma, I'm sorry. I got carried away," Akane said.

"That's all right," Ranma stuttered, "But maybe we ought to pull the wedding forward. I don't know how much longer I wanna wait."

She agreed happily. Ranma rolled over onto his side and held out his arms. She fell into his arms gladly and embraced him. They began kissing again, this time trying to stay in control. Finally, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

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Late that night, outside of the Tendo home, a shadowy figure jumped over the wall separating the street from the Tendo property. As the figure approached the house, the full moon came out from behind the clouds that it had been cowering behind to reveal the Black Rose of St. Hebereke High School, Kodachi Kuno, dressed in her skintight green leotard. She was muttering to herself, saying, "First that trollop has the audacity to proclaim herself the fiancée of my Ranma darling and then to brutally attack Brother dear. Of course, he deserved it for hitting Ranma darling with his sword. I will have my vengeance, Akane Tendo. And when I am done, Ranma darling will declare his love for me and take me to new heights of passion!" She laughed her manic laugh and then jumped to Akane's windowsill. She opened the window and then sprang to attack the figure sleeping in the bed. She let out her evil laugh again as her ribbons wrapped around the figure. She moved closer to gloat before maiming her rival only to freeze when she saw that she had attacked a stuffed pig.

"She's not here!" Kodachi said in anguish." Where can she be! No matter, I'll check on Ranma darling and take him away from this prison." She crept silently down the hallway to the guest room and slowly opened the door. In the dim moonlight coming in through the windows, she saw two figures sleeping in separate futons. She walked over to that figure, only to recoil as it rolled over to reveal that it was a giant panda. 'Why would they allow their pet to sleep in the guest room,' Kodachi wondered to herself, 'Peasants!' The other figure was obviously female, that of the Chinese bimbo.

Kodachi cursed and left the guest room. 'Maybe he's in the dojo,' she thought. Suddenly she recalled what her faithful ninja Sasuke had told her. She crept up the stairs to the small attic room, ready to spirit her beloved away. She carefully opened the door, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw that the room was deserted. She walked in and searched, discovering that while there were signs that it had been recently occupied, there were no personal belongings left.

She quietly walked over to the window, and opened it. She carefully climbed out and jumped to the ground. She walked over to the dojo and discovered that it was empty. "Oh no, that peasant wench has spirited my Ranma darling away from here! Where could she have taken him?" she cried. She vanished over the wall, leaving her trademark black roses behind.

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Nodoka opened the door to her house early the next morning to find Ranma and Akane standing there on her doorstep, holding hands. Her eyes darkened when she saw the large bandage adorning her son's left arm. She noticed two other things as well, one of which puzzled her. Akane had an engagement ring on her left hand, the same hand that was resting on the hilt of the Saotome family blade. Nodoka greeted Ranma by simply saying, "Son," in an emotionless voice.

"Mother," Ranma replied in the exact same voice.

"Hello, Akane," Nodoka said a bit warmer.

Akane nodded coolly and said, "Hello, Mrs. Saotome." Behind Nodoka's iron mask of a face, a small wince could almost be detected.

Remembering her manners, Nodoka said, "Please come in." She led them to the living room, where she served them some green tea. Nodoka sat there in silence feeling the temperature of the room drop, slow degree by slow degree.

After watching the two of them sit there in silence while they sipped their tea, Akane finally said, in a disgusted voice, "Well at least I know where he gets that stubborn pride from. You're both idiots, you know that."

Ranma had the grace to look a little guilty. He replied, "Mother." He stopped and started again with a somewhat warmer voice, "Mom, I was really hurt that you didn't come talk to me about the lies that Nabiki was telling you. You knew how I felt about Akane and that she was the only woman for me. You should have known that I would never have betrayed her with any one. Because of that, I said many things in anger that I shouldn't have thought, much less said." He bowed formally, and said, "Gomen Nasai, Mom. I'm very sorry for what I said. It was hurtful and I hope eventually you can forgive me."

Nodoka bowed to her son and replied, "Ranma, I'm as much to blame if not more so. You're right, I did let you down. Nabiki was just so convincing. She had her story down pat, with the pages of her diary talking about the nights that you had spent with her, and then the results of a pregnancy test to back it up. Then she played on my sense of honor. Her crying was most effective, especially about how her life would be ruined if you didn't marry her before her condition became obvious. Then Gemna backed up some of what she said, commenting about how he had seen you sneaking out of her room early in the morning. I let that baka influence me. I should have known better. I hope that you will come to forgive me as well."

Akane breathed a small sight of relief. "That's a bit better you two," she said, "At least you're talking to each other now."

Ranma hesitantly reached out his arms. His mother's face lit up as she gladly entered his embrace.

"Akane, dear, thank you. It will take more than this before all of the pain will go away, but thank you for helping us see we were being foolish. Thank you for helping me regain my son," Nodoka said, gratefully, "Can you forgive me as well?"

Akane said, "Nodoka, it will take a little time for me as well, but I'm not anywhere near as angry with you as I am with Nabiki and Father. What they attempted to do was inexcusable." Her aura began to glow with her anger.

Ranma reached out a hand to Akane to calm her down. Her aura slowly dissipated, then she said, "I'm sorry about that."

Nodoka took a deep breath and then said, "I'm sure this wasn't the only reason you came here, but I wanted to ask you a couple of questions first. Akane, dear, when did you two get engaged, and why are you the one carrying the Saotome katana?"

"Well, he asked me two nights ago. We would have told you the next morning, but, well you know what happened," Akane replied. An awkward silence filled the room, as they all tried to avoid thinking about that.

"As to why Acchan is carrying the honor blade, that's simple. You felt that you had lost your honor over what happened and were no longer worthy. I'm obviously your child, because I felt the same way. Acchan on the other hand did nothing dishonorable, so I felt she should bring it back to its home," Ranma answered finally, "Besides, she's better with a katana than I am." He smirked as he admitted that last.

Nodoka face-faulted. "My son has grown up, admitting that there is something that someone else is better at. I never thought that I'd hear that," she said, finally. Akane began giggling at the expression on Nodoka's face.

Nodoka finally asked, "Ranma, tell me how Kuno of all people managed to wound you?"

Ranma looked guiltily at his mother. "Acchan and I had spent the lunch period up on the roof. I was showing off to her so I jumped down with her in my arms. I hadn't put her down yet when Kuno came. I guess he didn't like seeing her in my arms and he definitely took exception to our engagement. He swung at me while I wasn't quite ready and got my arm. Tofu stitched it right up so it will be fine. Acchan took care of him, though, he's in the hospital with a broken arm and two cracked ribs," Ranma said finally.

Nodoka grew angry. "So that is how he honors his sworn word to leave the two of you alone. Our clan will see to his demise," Nodoka snarled. Ranma grew pale at the anger he saw on his mother's face.

Akane suggested, "Auntie, instead of calling out a blood feud against the Kuno clan, let us handle it. I'm already pressing assault charges against him."

"Hmm," Nodoka mused, "That might be a better revenge anyway. I can call on the clan to ensure that he doesn't escape justice." She continued thinking. After several minutes, she smiled coldly and said, ice dripping from her voice, "Kuno however has insulted both our clans. Our honor demands that he pay. Since he is so lacking in honor that he would come between the engagement, I think it is fitting that we remove what little honor he has left."

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he realized what Nodoka was suggesting, "Having him convicted of assault would destroy his honor, Mom. That's all that we need to do. Once that happens, his own family will disown him to remove the shame."

Nodoka pondered that. She finally sighed and said, "That will be satisfactory. Now, let's talk about more pleasant things than that idiot. When do you two want to get married?"

Ranma blushed bright red as he looked at his fiancée. "Mom, we had been thinking about waiting until August when we get out of school. But, well, after everything that's happened, I don't think we should wait that long. I just don't know how to do that with both of us underage," he said, a little sadly.

"Ranchan, I'd marry you tomorrow, if I could!" Akane said, her eyes shining.

"If that's what you two want, I think I can arrange it. Not tomorrow of course, but soon," Nodoka said, with a little laugh, "Akane, if you could, I'd love it if you would call me Mom. After all, you'll be my daughter soon."

Akane smiled and came over to Nodoka and hugged her. "Okay, Mom," she whispered.

"Now, I'd like it if the two of you moved in here with me. This house is certainly large enough, and I rattle around in it all by myself. If Tofu and Kasumi want to come as well, they're more than welcome," Nodoka said.

"What about Gemna? I kinda burned some bridges the other day," Ranma said, grimly.

Nodoka raised an eyebrow at that, thinking, 'He's serious about no longer considering that idiot as his father.' Nodoka sat there silent for a long moment, and then replied, "This is my home, and your home, not his. Who I chose to have stay here is none of his business. He is no longer welcome here. I delayed dealing with him out of hope that I could influence him and regain the man I married. I see that is no longer possible after his cooperation with Nabiki."

Ranma smiled sadly as he looked at Akane. She shrugged her shoulders, as if to say the decision was up to him. "Mom, I'd like that, really I would, but I need to think about it first. It makes a lot of sense, because there's really no room at the clinic, but I don't want to rush things too quickly, either. It'll have to happen soon though. If nothing else, we need to give the two newlyweds some privacy." He smirked as he said that.

Nodoka's eyes widened in shock that Ranma would say something like that. Then she giggled. Ranma almost fell off his chair, listening to his mother giggle. Nodoka replied finally, "I understand, Ranma. At least I know you'll be here soon. Now you two better hurry or you'll be late for school." She kissed her children.

Akane walked over to the fireplace and placed the Saotome sword in its stand on the mantle. She stood there for a second, her eyes mysterious, then bowed to the sword. Nodoka was touched by the courtesy the young woman her son had selected had displayed. Then she watched as the two of them dashed out the door to school. She slowly wiped a tear from her eye, smiling as she realized that a piece of her life was beginning to fix itself.

----------------------

The school day went quickly, though once again Akane had several notes on her desk from her classmates that she left unread. Ranma solved the problem of him receiving any notes by dramatically ripping the first one that he had received into tiny shreds and then glaring at anyone who neared him. The only blemish on an otherwise fine day was when Nabiki tracked them down as they were leaving the schoolyard.

"Hello, Ranma, Sis," Nabiki said as she blocked their exit from the schoolyard.

Akane eyed her coldly. "What do want now, Nabiki? Don't you have some money to count or something? Stop calling me Sis, I don't recognize that relationship anymore, remember?" she said, ice dripping from her voice.

Nabiki closed her eyes against the venom in her sister's voice. "I just wanted to warn you guys. Kodachi apparently came by the house late last night. She left her black roses behind. I don't know why she came by, but I thought you two would like to know that. By the way, how's the arm, Ranma? It looked like a pretty bad cut when I saw the attack yesterday."

Ranma said, curtly, "It's fine."

"Some high-priced lawyer spoke to the magistrate at the bail hearing and after that, Kuno was denied bail. He won't be getting out any time soon," Nabiki said. 'He absolutely hates me now,' she thought sadly to herself.

"How much is this news going to cost us?" Akane asked, icily.

"It's free," Nabiki replied softly.

Akane pulled some money from her pocket and tried to give to Nabiki. When she refused to take it, Akane dropped it on the ground and said, "Nothing with you is free, Nabiki. I won't be in your debt, ever again." The two of them brushed past Nabiki and left. A single tear trickled unnoticed down her face as Nabiki bent down and picked up the cash from the ground.

----------------------

That afternoon, after Ranma and Akane had returned to the clinic from school, Kasumi called them into the small kitchenette to talk to them about how their day had gone. "How did the talk with your mother go, Ranma?" she asked sweetly, while handing them a plate of fresh baked cookies.

"Thanks to Acchan here, it went pretty good. If she hadn't a jumped in, we'd probably still be sitting there staring at each other," Ranma replied, hugging Akane, "We still have a ways to go, but the worst part is taken care of. We still love each other after all. She also agreed to see what it would take for the two of us to get married soon as well."

"That's wonderful!" Kasumi exclaimed, "But I thought the two of you were going to wait."

"I don't want to wait any longer, Sis. Ranma's mine and I want the world to know that," Akane said, a fierce glint in her eye. Then she relaxed and added, "She's also invited all of us to move in with her, Sis. I think it's a good idea. I don't want her to get lonely again, and she'll just rattle around in that big house of hers, and to be honest we could use the additional rooms."

Kasumi frowned quickly, so quickly that if Ranma had blinked, he would have missed it. "Are you sure that is a good thing to do?" she asked.

Ranma pondered the question for a while and said, "I think what happened with Kuno kinda brought some sanity back into things. If Akane hadn't been ready to take care of Kuno, I might not have survived. I think that scared Mom. I know it bothered me. It made me understand that I didn't want to lose Mom over something that one of us said or did. Don't get me wrong. I expect we'll be walking on eggshells around each other for a while."

Akane said, "She explained how Nabiki fooled her into believing her lies. She was very upset with herself for doing that. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't find forgiving herself harder than forgiving Ranma. Just like Ranma will forgive her first long before he forgives himself."

"Oh my, you two certainly seem to have thought it through. If you two decide that it's the right thing for you, go ahead," Kasumi replied, "I think it would be best for you three to spend some time together, first, so I think Tofu and I will just stay here by ourselves for a while longer."

"Acchan, we could probably stay there tonight, if you want?" Ranma suggested.

Akane thought for a few minutes and said, "Why don't you call her and let her know we'll coming? I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

Ranma nodded, and went to the office to call his mom. After several minutes, he came back and said, "She's expecting us for dinner. She sure sounded happy, Acchan."

----------------------

After an excellent dinner with his mother, Ranma and Akane helped her do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Then Ranma and Akane went outside so Akane could practice her katas while Ranma watched. After a couple of hours of that, Akane came back in and washed up, while Ranma went to find his mother. He found her sitting in the living room staring at her blade up on the mantle.

Nodoka asked, "How's she doing?"

"You talking martial arts, or something else?" Ranma asked.

"Something else. How's she taking what Nabiki did?" Nodoka asked in a worried tone.

Ranma replied, "She's very angry with Nabiki and her father, still. She loves both of them deeply, and what they did hurt a great deal. If Kasumi hadn't walked out with her, I don't know what she would have done. Gemna she would just as soon turn into a panda-skin rug. Come to think about it that would be the most useful thing he would have done in years. Kasumi is worried about her a bit, I know. The sparring that she does is helping her keep herself under control. Acchan is getting the movements down pretty good. Now that she's gotten her speed up, she really looks good. There's a few more things that I want to teach her, but while she's not yet my equal, she makes a good sparring partner," Ranma said.

"Thanks, Ranchan. I'm glad to finally here you say that about me," Akane said from the doorway.

Ranma blushed and replied, "It's only the truth, Acchan. I'm proud of you. You worked hard all these many months. You came a long way from when we first met. Mom, Acchan and I need to finish our homework and then we're going to bed. See you in the morning." He kissed his mother lightly on her cheek. Akane followed him upstairs to the bedroom they were going to share.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews; I'm glad that it has been enjoyed. As always, constructive criticisms are appreciated.


	4. Third Times the Charm

Chapter 4 Third Times the Charm

Nabiki stood there in the kitchen looking totally lost. The first night Kasumi had been gone; Nodoka had taken pity on her and had fixed a meal for them before she left.  The second night, Nabiki had ordered take-out.  But that wasn't going to work for long.  Shampoo could fix the breakfast meal and the lunches, but if she was going to continue to work, Nabiki had to take care of the dinner.  They didn't have enough money coming in to get take-out every night.  And even though the dinner was just for the three of them, the panda ate enough for three or four people by himself, even when he wasn't a panda.  With Ranma and Akane gone, she wasn't even sure if the dojo would bring in enough money.  She really couldn't trust Mr. Saotome to teach and her father was still so broken up over Akane and Kasumi leaving that he was worthless.

"How did Kasumi do it?  Cook, keep the house clean, do all of the household chores!  She had to be superhuman," Nabiki exclaimed to the empty kitchen.  The fact that Kasumi had taken all of her recipes and cookbooks hadn't helped Nabiki either.  She had needed to buy a cookbook on the way home just so she would have simple recipes to follow.  "Well, at least the rice shouldn't be too hard," she said to herself.  She placed the correct amount of water in the rice cooker and started the water to boil.  She also placed a pot of water on the stove for the miso soup she was going to make.

After slaving in the kitchen for what seemed forever, the meal was finally ready.  She brought the rice cooker and placed it near the dining platform, and placed the bowls for the rice next to it.  Then she brought the bowls of miso soup to the table.  Before she had a chance to say anything, her father and Mr. Saotome were sitting at the table.  Nabiki dished out the rice and the two men began to eat.

Suddenly, Genma stopped and said, "This stuff is awful, Nabiki!  The miso soup is too bland and the rice is undercooked and lumpy at that."

Nabiki snapped at him, "Well, I'm sorry I can't cook.  I didn't see you volunteering.  If you think you can do better, get your furry behind in there and do it!"

"Nabiki, daughter, that's no way to treat a guest in this house," Soun admonished.

"He's nothing but a freeloader, who's complained ever since Kasumi left about everything," Nabiki said sharply.

"Waah, my daughter is angry at me," Soun wailed, setting of the waterworks.

Genma growled, "And whose fault is it that Kasumi left?  It's your duty as a woman to take of the household, girl."

Nabiki stood up and said, icily, "It that's what you think we're good for, then I suggest you find one to take care of you.  I'm done trying.  After all, I have to bring in the money to keep this place going.  Maybe you can talk Shampoo into taking care of you, after all you're supposed to be her airen, remember."  She turned angrily to leave.

Soun really started crying even more.  "Why do I have such an ungrateful daughter?  You're all I have left in this world.  Kasumi, Akane, why did you leave me?" he cried.

Nabiki's face grew pale and she fled upstairs to her room.  After locking her door, she threw herself on the bed and allowed herself to cry.  She sank back into the depression she had been in since that disastrous day.  She was really beginning to hate herself.  'Why did I do something so stupid?  I knew he didn't care for me that way.  Was he right, am I really that hateful of a person that I wanted to destroy Akane's happiness?' she thought to herself.  She couldn't keep her mind from chasing those thoughts until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

The next morning, Nabiki groggily made her way downstairs to the bathroom to get cleaned up.  After scrubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and partially waking herself up, she wearily changed into her school uniform.  She used to enjoy going to school, the money making activities alone made it worth her while, but now, just seeing her sister there with the hatred in her eyes, made her dread going.  And then to see the indifference in her Ranma's eyes.  She stopped, and admitted to herself, 'He was never mine.  I did all this for nothing.'  She sighed as she left the bathroom to see what disasters her father and that good-for-nothing Saotome had left in the dining area and the kitchen.  She walked into the kitchen, to see a bubbly Shampoo bouncing around an almost spotless kitchen, fixing breakfast and the bentos for lunch.

"Nihao, Nabiki," Shampoo said pleasantly as she finished the last part of the meals.

'Gah, how can she be so perky this early in the day,' Nabiki thought to herself.  "Good morning, Shampoo.  Thanks for cleaning this mess up last night.  I wasn't in the mood for it, I guess," Nabiki said.

"Oh, I didn't do anything.  The house was clean when I came home last night," Shampoo said gaily, "The men must have cleaned up.  There were a few things in the wrong spot this morning, but that was all I saw wrong.  Your father did ask if I could be home to fix all the meals, though."

"Yeah, last night was a disaster.  I'm not a good homemaker, I guess," Nabiki said wryly.

"You can help me take all of this out there," Shampoo replied.  The two girls brought the food to the dining platform, and called the two men in to eat.  Genma ignored Nabiki, except to glare at her once.

Soun cleared his throat, and said to Nabiki, "Daughter, you need to apologize to Mr. Saotome.  He is a guest in this house and should be treated with respect."

Nabiki narrowed her eyes.  'So it was going to start again,' she thought angrily.  "Father, I treat him with all of the respect he deserves," she said in an emotionless voice. 

That remark earned her another glare from Genma.  For one of the first times in her life, she also got treated to Demon-head Soun.  "How dare you insult him like that?  After running off last night, so that we had to clean up.  If you weren't my daughter,"

Nabiki interrupted him, and said, wearily, "You'd do what?  Starve, get a job, grow a backbone, what exactly would you do?  I'm just tired of all of this.  I didn't expect to lose two parents when Mother died.  You disappeared into your grief and forgot about us.  Kasumi and I had to do everything that we could to keep a roof over our head, and food on our plates.  And then I screwed everything up because I was jealous!"  She got up, her chest heaving from emotion and said, "Excuse me, I don't want to be late to school."  She grabbed her school bag and the bento from the kitchen and left, leaving an extremely shocked Soun behind.

----------------------

Ranma was sitting on the grass waiting for Akane to join him for lunch.  He saw Nabiki looking forlorn across the schoolyard from where he was sitting.  She hesitated for a second when she saw him looking at her, but then walked over.  As she neared him, he frowned slightly.  'She looks horrible,' Ranma thought, 'This hasn't been easy on her, and I bet those idiots are making it worse for her.'  "Yo, Nabiki," Ranma said as she stopped in front of him.

"Hello, Ranma," Nabiki said softly, "I came over to apologize again.  What I did was terrible.  I know that, now.  Please don't hate me.  I don't know if I could handle that if you did."  A tear slowly trickled down her left cheek.

Ranma saw the pain in her eyes, and he realized that his anger had disappeared.  "Nabiki, I still don't understand what you thought you were doing, but I don't hate you because of it.  I was angry with you for trying to come between Akane and I, but that's in the past," he replied gently, "You and I will have to work this out eventually, after all, you're gonna be my sister-in-law one day."

"No she isn't," a voice interrupted, harshly.  Nabiki paled when she realized that Akane had walked up behind her.  Akane asked, roughly, "What are you doing here, bothering my fiancé?"

Nabiki turned and fled.

"Acchan, she was trying to apologize.  She wants her family back, and you're not helping.  I don't expect you to forgive her yet, but can you at least cut her a little slack," Ranma said, a little angrily.

Akane retorted, "How can you be so forgiving?  After what she did to you, to us."

"Uh, Acchan, I know you have every right to be angry at her, but, she lost and she knows it.  I think she honestly wants to patch things up somehow.  I want to at least listen to her, she's tried to apologize several times now," Ranma said slowly, watching the effect his words were having on his obviously upset fiancée.

Akane got her anger under control with superhuman effort, "Ranchan, I'm not sure I can do that," she admitted, sadly, "I want my family back, too, but every time I see her, my blood boils."

"I understand, dear.  But I'm actually beginning to get worried about her.  She looked like death warmed over when she came over to talk to me.  I gotta thinking, she's sacrificed an awful lot since your mother died, all for the family, to keep the family together.  And with one stupid act, she's destroyed something she had worked so hard for.  I'm afraid she's starting to crack.  Shampoo said as much in the note she handed me in class this morning.  I think we need to talk to Tofu and Kasumi after school and beg them to move back home," Ranma said, urgently.

----------------------

Nabiki stood irresolutely outside the Ono clinic, gathering up her courage to face her sister.  Finally, she opened the door and walked in to see the disapproving frown on the face of her brother-in-law.

"I know I'm the least favorite person you want to see right now, but I'd really like to talk to my sister, if she's here," Nabiki pleaded softly.

"You're right about that Miss Tendo," Tofu said stiffly.  At that moment, Kasumi walked in from the kitchenette with some tea.  She froze as she saw Nabiki standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Kasumi said with a frown.

Nabiki hung her head in shame.  "I came to apologize to the two of you and to beg you to return home.  Not for my sake, Kasumi, but for Father's.  He hasn't stopped crying since you left.  It's worse than when Mother died," Nabiki answered, not looking her sister in the eye.

"Oh my, poor Father," Kasumi said, softly as the old Kasumi poked through the icy façade that she was maintaining.  Then her expression hardened as she asked, "Has he understood what he did to Ranma and Akane?"

Nabiki swallowed.  "Kasumi, he didn't really do anything wrong except to listen to my lies.  I'm the one who dishonored our family.  You know how weak Father is.  I just pulled him in the direction I wanted him to go," Nabiki replied, sobbing quietly.

"Have you talked to Ranma and Akane?  After all, they're the ones who you wronged," Tofu asked, his bright eyes watching her closely.  He frowned as he detected something in her chi that bothered him.

"Hai, I've apologized to both of them.  Not that I expect either of them to forgive me.  I don't really deserve their forgiveness," Nabiki said, softly.

Kasumi looked at her sister, and then sadly shook her head.  "I'm sorry, Nabiki.  I can't forgive you either.  I wish I could, I really do, but I can't.  I can't forgive your Father either.  He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't care," she said.

Nabiki stared at her sister, all hope leaving her eyes.  "I understand, Kasumi.  I won't bother you again," she said.  She bowed to her sister and then slowly trudged out of the clinic toward her home, tears streaming down her face.

When she reached her home, she ran into Genma.  He sneered at her and said harshly, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this fiasco.  I thought you were smart enough to make this work.  Look at you, you're worthless.  You're nothing but a weeping girl.  You can't cook, you barely know how to clean, what good are you?"

She stared at him, and then flared up.  "At least I don't laze around all day doing nothing, like you do, eating us out of house and home.  You were supposed to work, but you don't even do that anymore.  I work, I bring home the money that feeds your fat ass, and you have the gall to tell me I can't do anything!  Get out of my sight, you ugly parasite!" she screamed at him in rage.

Genma just laughed at her.  Her father looked at her sternly from the door to the house.  "Nabiki, apologize to Mr. Saotome, right now!  You can't talk to a guest that way.  Haven't you brought enough misfortune to our family already?" he said angrily.

Nabiki froze.  'I lied, cheated and stole for this!  What was I thinking?  I gave my honor away for this!' she thought to herself.  She ignored her father and ran into the house, brushing past him in dismay.  She ran upstairs to her room and slammed and locked the door.  Her father followed, banging on the door, demanding that she let him in.  She ignored him and walked slowly toward her dresser.

----------------------

Ranma and Akane came running up the street towards the clinic when they saw Nabiki stumbling away from it.  She was crying so hard, she didn't notice them following her.  As Ranma and Akane neared the dojo, they heard the tail end of the argument between Nabiki and Genma, and then the words her father said.  Ranma looked at Akane and said, "I really don't like the sound of this, Acchan.  I'm gonna go try and talk to Nabiki."  With that he jumped on top of the wall, and then made his way over to where he could look into Nabiki's room.

Akane followed him, cursing under her breath.  Then she stopped as the two of them froze in anguish as they saw Nabiki open a drawer in her dresser and pull out a tanto.  Ranma sprang from the wall through the window, spraying glass fragments all over, just as Nabiki slit her wrist with the blade.  Ranma knocked the blade out of her hand and grabbed a hair ribbon, and tied it off as a tourniquet, in an attempt to stop the flow of blood.  He picked her up, and jumped back out the window, calling to Akane, "Get a hold of Tofu and have him make arrangements with the hospital, and then meet me there."

Akane stared in amazement and wonder for a second as he jumped over the wall and vanished from sight.  Akane ran into the house, ignoring the angry noise from Genma and her father.  She grabbed the phone and called Tofu.  When he answered, she said, "Nabiki tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists.  Ranma's taking her to Nerima General.  Call them and let them know he's on his way, and then meet us there."  She hung up and ran past her father, who attempted to stop her.  Genma grabbed at her and she knocked him into the koi pond.  She turned, anger flashing from her eyes, and said, "I don't have time for this stupidity.  My sister just tried to kill herself, because of what we have done to her."  She turned and ran as fast as she could to the hospital, followed by her pale-faced father and a wet panda.

----------------------

Ranma reached the hospital in good time, and burst in through the Emergency Entrance.  An orderly met him there with a gurney, but Ranma ignored it and said, "Just show me the way."  The orderly led him into one of the exam rooms, where Ranma laid her gently on the table.  He got out of the way as the staff began to work on the damaged wrist.  After the nurse hooked her up to a saline drip, and a monitor, the doctor quickly debrided the wound and stitched it up.  After she was finished, she carefully undid the tourniquet, and watched to see that there was no more bleeding.  She turned to Ranma and asked, "Who are you?"

He replied, rapidly, "I'm Ranma Saotome.  I'm her sister's fiancé.  Is she gonna be okay?"

"We could still lose her, but I'll feel better once she wakes up.  We need to get her up to a room, and then we'll keep an eye on her.  The tourniquet helped, but it's going to be a tough 24 hours.  She lost a lot of blood, even with the tourniquet.  Good job with that, by the way.  Where's the rest of her family?" she asked.  Then she really looked at Ranma and gasped, "We need to get you cleaned up, too.  What did you do, go through a window, or something?  There's glass all over your arms!"  She rushed over and began removing the splinters of glass from his arms.  Once all of the glass was gone, she began cleaning the wounds, watching in disbelief as the wounds began to close by themselves.  One of the orderlies started wheeling Nabiki away, and Ranma jerked to follow.  The doctor stopped him and said, "Don't worry.  I'll take you to her once I'm done here.  She will need quiet, so we will need to restrict the visitors."  Soon, all of the wounds were clean, and he followed the doctor up to the room that they had placed Nabiki.

Ranma sat there and held her hand, hoping that she would wake up, tears streaming down his face.  He prayed, listening to the sound of the beeping monitor, knowing with cold comfort that as long as the machine was beeping, Nabiki was still going to make it.

Suddenly the room was full of people, Soun was wailing over his poor baby.  Akane and Kasumi looked devastated as they saw their sister lying in the bed, with her face ashen.  Tofu was attempting to keep things calm, but Genma kept growling at him.

Ranma looked up, self-loathing in his eyes.  He said in an icy voice, "She doesn't need all of this circus.  Pop, get out of my sight, NOW."  Genma took one look at the ice chips that had replaced his son's eyes and left in a hurry.  "Mr. Tendo, crying at the top of your lungs won't help her now.  Akane, Kasumi, would you take him outside and calm him down.  I don't care how."  Akane and Kasumi nodded, and grabbed their father, and pulled him outside.  As the door shut, Ranma distinctly heard the sound of a hand hitting something, and Mr. Tendo suddenly shut up.

Ranma looked at Tofu, and said, "I knew something was wrong this morning Doc.  I should have been there sooner, I should have said something, I don't know what."

Tofu looked at him, kindly, and said, "Ranma, you're babbling son.  I'm as much to blame if not more so.  I saw something wrong this afternoon, but I didn't intervene.  I think she needs you right now, and you're doing the exact right thing.  I'll check on Soun and then send Kasumi and Akane in as well.  Nabiki needs to hear from them as well."

Ranma started saying under his breath, "Come on Nabiki, hang in there.  Don't die on me, on us.  We need you, we love you."  He bent over her and kissed her on the lips, and whispered, "Please come back, Biki-chan."

As he drew back, Kasumi and Akane walked in.  Kasumi said, "Oh my, Ranma."

Akane growled at her fiancé and said, "Ranma!"

He turned and glared at them, and said, "This is our fault!  Do you love your sister or not!"

Akane dropped her eyes and then said, "Gomen, Ranchan.  You're right."  She walked over and grasped the same hand Ranma was holding and said, "Sis, you didn't need to do this.  We would have worked this out soon.  I just had to get over my anger, that's all."  Tears began to stream down her face, landing on Nabiki's hand.

Kasumi joined them.  "I'm sorry, Nabiki.  I should have been paying better attention to how you were hurting.  I couldn't see past my anger as well."


	5. Aftermaths

Chapter 5 Aftermaths

Later that evening, the floor nurse came by to check on Nabiki. When she saw Ranma, Akane and Kasumi sitting there holding Nabiki's hand, she said softly, "I'm sorry, visiting hours are over. You three will have to leave."

They just glared at her and simply said in eerie unison, "We're staying here with our sister. End of discussion."

The nurse looked at the expression on the three faces looking back at here and gulped. She slowly backed up, only to run into Tofu, who had just entered the room. He guided her away, saying, "I've cleared it with the hospital. They're allowed to stay." He firmly closed the door behind them, leaving Ranma and the two girls gazing at the small, still body lying in the bed in front of them.

"She'll be all right, Akane. I know she will," Kasumi said, standing up so she could hug both Ranma and Akane.

"Biki-chan, come back to us," Ranma whispered.

"Sis, don't leave us, please," Akane begged softly, tears dripping from her eyes.

Kasumi sat back down in her chair and then the three of them returned to holding Nabiki's hand with theirs. They gazed at her in hope, praying that she would be okay and return from the darkness that was holding her captive. Suddenly, a bright, white aura flared, surrounding the three of them, and then grew to encompass Nabiki as well.

"Oh my, this is interesting. I've never felt this kind of aura before," Ranma said as he sat there stunned.

'That's my line,' Kasumi thought with a mental snicker.

Akane asked with a hint of panic in her voice, "What's going on here?"

The aura stayed for several long heartbeats until it faded. A feeling of peace filled the room as the three of them collapsed in exhaustion, still holding Nabiki's hand.

Late that night, Nabiki slowly woke up. She couldn't figure out where she was at first, and there was a strange whistling sound coming from somewhere. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of utter despair and self-hatred that had led her to slit her wrist and then watch the blood come gushing out, and the sound of Ranma crashing through the window yelling at her to stop. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what she had tried to do. As her eyes finally adjusted to the bright lights, she saw that she was in a hospital room, with Ranma and her two sisters fast asleep. Both of her sisters were resting their head on Ranma's shoulder and the strange whistle she was hearing was Ranma gently snoring. All three of them were somehow holding her hand. She slowly tried to sit up, which caused Kasumi's eyes to snap open.

"Nabiki, you're back. Thank Kami for that," Kasumi breathed, the love in her voice plain to hear, "We were so worried about you."

Nabiki sighed in relief to hear her sister's kind voice again. "Thanks, Sis," she said hoarsely, "I'm so sorry I did this to you." She gratefully drank the water her sister handed her.

Kasumi leaned over and hugged her sister, saying, "Don't you dare scare us like this again. I'm so sorry about this afternoon. I was so angry at what you had done, I didn't want to see how badly you were hurting." Kasumi began sobbing in anguish at what she had caused her sister to do.

"Sis, it's okay. We both screwed up this time. What I did this afternoon wasn't your fault anyway," Nabiki said bitterly, "I did it all on my own with no help from anyone. It just felt like I had no friends at all and then when Saotome tore into me when I got home, that just made me feel more depressed. I guess you could say what he said to me was the last straw. I didn't feel like I deserved to live."

A gentle voice said quietly, "Sis, you have at least three friends, because the three of us are sitting in this room. I'm sorry I wouldn't let go of my anger today. Ranchan tried to tell me you were hurting as well and I just wouldn't let myself care. You were right the other day, whatever you've done, you're still my sister and I love you, warts and all." Nabiki looked over to see Akane smiling in relief that her sister was alive and well.

"Akane, can you even forgive me for trying to steal Ranma away from you? I was so hateful to even try. I'm so sorry, Sis," Nabiki cried, the tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

Akane said softly, "Sis, I don't know if I can. The fact that you tried still hurts, but it doesn't change the fact that I still love you. When I thought that you might not make it, I almost died inside thinking that if I had reached out like Ranchan tried, you wouldn't have done this." Her tears began to fall, joining her two sisters.

"Would you three keep it down, I'm trying to - wait a minute, Nabiki you're back!" Ranma said as he leaned over and hugged Nabiki.

Nabiki started turning blue as she tried to say, "Ranma, can't breathe."

"Baka," Akane said as she gently swatted him on the head, "Are you trying to put her back to sleep?"

Ranma looked sheepish as he let go of Nabiki. "Sorry, Biki-chan. You had me scared to death. I was afraid that I had gotten to you too late," he said gently.

"I'm so glad you cared enough to save me, Ranchan," Nabiki said tenderly, "Actually, I'm glad all three of you are here showing that you care." She choked back a sob, and continued, tears still streaming down her face, "I was so afraid that I had lost you three through my stupidity."

Akane replied, tearfully as well, "Biki-chan, I'm just sorry that this is what it took to get us back together." Then she giggled, "The three of us are as bad as Father, look at us crying like this."

"Acchan, could I borrow your fiancé for a minute? I promise to give him back," Nabiki said softly, "I need to talk to him alone, if that's okay with you."

Akane hesitated for a moment, a slight frown on her face. Then she said, "Sure, Sis." She left with Kasumi and shut the door behind her after giving Ranma a piercing look.

"Ranchan, I wanted to thank you privately for saving me, not just this afternoon but for the times since as well," Nabiki said seriously, "Even though you had rescued my body this afternoon by keeping me from hurting myself more and getting me here, my spirit was still dying. I was lost somewhere in the darkness. Then I heard your voice and felt your hand in mine and you drew me back. And then later, I felt this warmth and I knew that you loved me and didn't want me to go. That's what finally saved me and made me realize that I wanted to live still."

Ranma started to protest, a panicked look in his eyes, but Nabiki interrupted him with a sad, yet gentle laugh. She said, "Hush, dear Ranma. I know you don't love me the way you love Akane, baka. I just meant that your friendship, your love of me as a sister, was enough to bring me back. You don't have to panic, this episode has changed me. I'm not quite the same person that I was before, that person did die yesterday, and I can't say that I'm sorry to see her go. She has done several things that I'm not proud of and I'm going to try to be a different person starting today." She smiled fondly at him and continued, "I don't know how soon the two of you want to get married, but if I can help, let me know. I want you to be happy and maybe I can start making amends by helping you get there."

"Thanks, Biki-chan. I know how hard this must be for you though. Besides, it wasn't all me, your two sisters love you just as much as I do," he replied, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "This is the Nabiki I thought I saw before, I'm glad to see she's back," Ranma continued. Nabiki blushed as Ranma gazed at her. "Hee, hee, looks like the Ice Queen did decide to melt, I don't ever remember you blushing like that before," he teased softly. He laughed gently at her.

"You better let your fiancée in, she's probably worried herself sick thinking I'm in here trying to seduce you," Nabiki teased.

Ranma looked worriedly at her as he said, "Nabiki, Akane is going to be sensitive about that for a while, especially with you. Don't make jokes like that, at least not where she might hear you, okay?"

His intensity as he stared at her scared Nabiki as she smiled weakly. "You're right, Ranma. That wasn't particularly clever of me to say, was it?" she responded. Ranma walked over to the door and opened it, looking very surprised when neither Akane nor Kasumi were hovering in the doorway. A few moments later, the two of them came walking in, Akane latching possessively onto Ranma as Kasumi breezed by to check on Nabiki.

"I decided to wait until morning to let everyone know that you woke up, Sis. I don't see the need for a crowd of people showing up right now. Do you guys want to go back home and try to get some sleep, or just crash here?" Kasumi said.

Ranma looked at his fiancée and then replied, "I think we can go to Mom's and get a little more sleep there. I don't feel like dealing with Genma right now. Tomorrow will be soon enough. I need to talk with him and explain some things to him, but right now I'm so tired that I'd just beat him to a pulp. While that would make me feel better, it won't solve anything." His voice got colder as he continued, "He said some things to you yesterday that went too far. I need to finish what I started the other day and make him understand that he is no longer welcome in my life." The room dropped noticeably in temperature until Akane squeezed him in a hug and whispered something in his ear. "Thanks, Acchan," Ranma said gratefully. He leaned over and kissed Nabiki lightly on the cheek and said, "You get some sleep too, Nabiki. It will be a circus in the morning and you need to be awake for it. Akane and I need to speak to your father and I want you awake in case he tries to cause any more trouble."

Akane walked over to Nabiki and kissed her lightly as well. "Ranchan's right, Nabiki. We'll see you again in the morning after we wake up," she said. They waved goodbye and left, heading for Nodoka's home.

"Sis, can you stay for a while? I need to talk to you," Nabiki asked, anxiously.

Kasumi looked at her sister in concern and said simply, "Of course, Nabiki. I can stay as long as you need me to."

Nabiki hesitated for a moment gathering her thoughts and then asked, "Are you two going to move back home soon, Sis? It's been hell not having you there, and we really need you there. Not for doing the housework, but because you're the peacemaker in the family."

Kasumi sighed and replied, "I haven't talked to Tofu about it yet. We're both still angry with Father and Mr. Saotome. I'm not sure I want to move back if that useless freeloading panda is still there."

"I think Ranma may have something in mind for Saotome. What I need is your helping in convincing Father to agree to let Ranma and Akane marry as soon as possible. If you make that one of your conditions for moving back, I'm sure he will cave in," Nabiki said.

Kasumi looked at her sister in surprise and asked, "I thought you loved Ranma. Why are you trying to get them married so quickly?"

Nabiki blushed and replied, "I'm trying to make amends for what I did. The sooner I get them married off, the sooner Akane will forgive me for what I tried to pull." Then she whispered, "And the sooner I can begin to forgive myself as well."

"Nabiki, I'll talk to my husband about moving back, but I think we'll wait until you're ready to come home first. Now do you want to tell me what's really troubling you?" Kasumi replied.

"What do you think, Kasumi? The man I love doesn't love me the way I want him to. Even worse he loves my sister and wants to marry her. That's why I was desperate and did what I did. You wouldn't understand!" Nabiki cried.

"Why wouldn't I understand? What gives you the idea that I don't still love Ranma? I do and always will," Kasumi said quietly, "When Tofu asked me to marry him, I didn't give him an answer right away. I waited until Ranma came home and I told him that Tofu had proposed. I don't know what I expected, but he told me that I belonged with Tofu. He deliberately pushed me at Tofu. Don't misunderstand me, I love Tofu, and I definitely don't regret marrying him. I've never been happier, but I still felt a great deal of regret when Ranma said he loved Akane. Every once and a while, I still look at Ranma and wish he had told me something different. After all, he does have a great body." Kasumi grinned at the shocked expression on her sister's face.

"And I thought you were a happily married woman who wouldn't look at another man," Nabiki teased gently, after getting over her shock. Then she sobered and said, "So what you're telling me is that I need to get on with my life. Ranma's made his decision, and I should have respected it."

Kasumi smiled at her and replied, "Basically yes. You're an attractive woman, Nabiki. You're smart and ambitious, with a wicked sense of humor. The only thing that's been wrong is that you've been pushing people away because of the image you have. If you want friends, all you need to do is change that image. If you want guys to start chasing you, that'll do it."

Nabiki grimaced and said, "So I guess I did this to myself. Well, I already decided that I didn't like who I was before, so it shouldn't be a surprise that other people didn't like who I was, either. I wish I'd talked to you before. You might have kept me from making some of the mistakes that I've made if I had." She yawned and said, "I think I can get back to sleep, now. Why don't you head on home, you could stand some rest as well."

Kasumi smiled and said, "I'll just stay here with you. I'd have to be back here soon enough as it is." She leaned over and kissed her sister and then made herself comfortable in the chair. Nabiki turned the light out and then nestled herself in the bed.

"Thanks, Sis," Nabiki said, then she drifted back off to sleep. Kasumi watched over her sister until her eyes finally grew too tired, and she finally fell asleep herself.

----------------------

Ranma was a little worried as they walked home from the hospital. Akane was being extremely quiet, as if something was weighing on her mind. Every once in a while she would look at him, and open her mouth as if to say something, but then she would shake her head and stay silent. Finally, Ranma had enough. He stopped walking, and turned to her and asked, "What's the matter, Acchan? Something is really got you going or something."

Akane hesitated for a long time, then she began blushing. Ranma simply waited patiently for her to decide to get whatever it was off her chest. Finally, she gave a little laugh and said, "I'm still too possessive, I guess. When Nabiki asked to talk to you privately, I got worried about what she might tell you."

Ranma smiled, and said, "There really wasn't much. She just wanted to express her gratitude for me saving her yesterday, is all. And then to apologize again for what she tried to do before. She wants to help the two of us get married as soon as we are ready."

Akane stared at him in shock and replied, "She wants to what?"

"I think she honestly wants to make amends, Acchan. It sounded like she took a long hard look at who she had turned into and didn't like what she saw. I think we're gonna see a different Nabiki soon. Does that make you feel a bit better, now?" Ranma replied gently.

"Yes, I think it does, Ranchan. I hope you're right about her wanting to change. I think she has been very lonely the last few years. I think maybe the reason she reacted so strongly toward you was because you were friendly toward her and didn't push her away," Akane replied thoughtfully.

"Okay, that's enough of this. We still need to get home. Knowing Mom, she's probably half awake waiting for us," Ranma said.

He started to turn toward home, but Akane put her hand on his arm and pulled him to her. She reached up and kissed him lightly, and said, "Thanks for being so patient with me, Ranchan."


	6. Changes

Chapter 6 Changes

Once they reached his mother's home, Ranma wasn't surprised to see a light still on, shining through the living room windows, even though it was around three in the morning.  After taking their shoes off at the front door, they walked hand in hand into the living room to find Nodoka sleeping on the couch.  As Ranma neared her, Nodoka's eyes opened and she said, "How's Nabiki?  When Tofu called to tell me what had happened, he wasn't sure she would pull through.  He said something about how he wasn't sure she wanted to come back."  She sounded a bit puzzled by what he had meant.

"I think she's fine now, Mom.  She woke up an hour or so ago and we talked.  We wouldn't have come home if we thought there was a problem still.  She knows that she has friends and family that care for her, now.  She even wants to help get us married," Ranma replied.

A look of relief passed across Nodoka's face after hearing those words.  Akane said, "We still have a lot of issues to deal with, Mom, but it sounds like this mess may have taught Sis something."  Akane sighed and continued, "It certainly taught me something as well.  I still have issues with anger that I need to work through.  I don't know how much of what I did caused Nabiki to get as depressed as she did.  She says it wasn't my fault, but I don't believe her.  I had to have at least contributed to driving her to this."  She broke down crying.  "I almost lost my sister because of my anger," she sobbed.

Ranma held his fiancée in his arms, looking helplessly at his mother.  Nodoka said gently, "Daughter, we all behaved badly.  I said several things to her that I deeply regret as well.  I spent several hours since Tofu called thinking of how we had parted, and wished that I could have unsaid some of the things I said.  I only hope she can forgive me as well."

Ranma looked at his mother and said grimly, "Mom, Genma was the one who drove Nabiki to do this.  You should have heard the things he said to her the finally pushed her over the edge.  Before he can do any more damage, I need to take the mastery of the school away from him and then drive him away from Nerima.  I hope that's okay with you, but I can't let him destroy anything or anyone else.  I have to sever all ties that he might have with me."

Nodoka gasped and then replied, proudly, "You need to do what is honorable, Ranma.  I will support you in whatever you must do."  Her eyes softened as she saw that Akane had cried herself to sleep in Ranma's arms.  "We can discuss that later, son.  Right now I think Akane has the right idea," Nodoka said lightly.

Ranma chuckled and said, "I think you're right.  Morning is going to be early enough as it is."  He swung Akane up into his arms, smiled at her sleepy protest and said, "Good night, Mom.  I'll see you sometime this morning.  Sleep tight."  He walked out of the living room and upstairs to the room that Akane was sharing with him.  He carefully laid her on the bed, and then realized that she would be extremely uncomfortable in her street clothing.  Blushing, he slowly undressed her down to her panties and then put her in her favorite pair of pajamas and slid her under the covers.  He quickly stripped down to his boxers and undershirt and joined her.  He kissed her goodnight and then rolled over and went to sleep.

It was mid morning before Ranma woke up from a dreamless sleep to see Akane's gorgeous brown eyes gazing at him.  She impishly wrinkled her nose at him and then kissed him passionately.  When they finally came back up for air, Akane asked, shyly, "Did you undress me last night?"

Ranma blushed and replied, "Yeah, I didn't think you wanted to stay in what you were wearing.  It didn't look too comfortable.  I hope I didn't embarrass you or anything."

Akane smiled and said, "Not really, I guess.  After all, we'll be married soon."

Nodoka knocked on the door and said, "Breakfast is ready, you two sleepyheads.  Kasumi just called from the hospital.  She would like us there as soon as possible."

"Okay, Mom," Akane said, jumping out of bed, "There's nothing wrong with Nabiki, is there?"

"No, Nabiki's fine.  It's something about what her father said on the phone when she called him this morning bothered her," Nodoka replied.

"Come on Ranchan, we'll need to hurry in the bath.  You'd better share it with me," Akane said.

Ranma blinked in astonishment, not believing what he had just heard.  He got out of bed and grabbed a change of clothing and followed Akane down the hall to the bathroom and followed her in.

He asked, "Are you sure about this, Acchan?"  Then he realized the question was moot as she began to unbutton her pajama top.  Ranma turned his back and began undressing.  Once his clothing was off, he rinsed his body down with cold water.  Shivering with the transformation, she soaped her now wet body down and then rinsed off again.  Grabbing a towel, she entered the warm waters of the furo and changed back, trying not to blush.  Wrapping his towel around his waist, he went back into the changing room, trying not to look at the nude body of his blushing fiancée.

Akane quickly took her clothing off; disappointed a little that Ranma had turned his back to her. Using the bucket of cold water, she rinsed herself off, and then cleansed her body with the soap.  Using several buckets of cold water, she rinsed herself off.  Grabbing her towel, she began drying herself off, giggling at the attempts that Ranma was making to keep from staring at her.  After waiting a moment, she gathered her courage and walked into the changing room after her fiancé.  He was struggling to get dressed.  She took her clothing and began to put them on slowly, enjoying the reaction of her fiancé.

"Acchan," he said in a voice suddenly tight, "What's gotten into you?"

She replied, giggling, "Nothing, yet."  She lifted one eyebrow archly as she began to put her bra on.  Ranma groaned as he turned around and pulled his pants on over his boxers.  Without waiting to put his shirt on, he ran out of the changing room, leaving the door open.  Akane couldn't help laughing at the expression on his face as he left.

Nodoka poked her head in the door and gently began laughing.  "Daughter, that was cruel.  You know he wants you so badly," she said, trying to regain her control.

Akane snickered and said, "It's not like we haven't seen each other this way before, Mom."  Then she blushed, as she added, "I'm just glad to know that I have that kind of effect on him.  I've always been worried that he doesn't find me sexy."

"I think we can rule that out, dear.  But you're right, it's always good to know how we affect our men," Nodoka replied as Akane finished getting dressed.  They shared a laugh as they headed for the dining room for breakfast.

As his mother served breakfast, Ranma hugged his fiancée.  He whispered something in her ear, which caused Akane to turn bright red.  Nodoka smiled to herself, thinking, 'I've got to get these two married, they're such a cute couple.'

"Mom," Ranma asked, as they began eating, "What was Kasumi worried about, could you tell?"

"I'm not sure.  She really didn't say other than her father's tone of voice worried her for some reason," Nodoka replied.

Ranma pondered that for a while, and then said, "I'll see you two at the hospital.  If Kasumi's worried about Nabiki, then I need to be there now."

Akane stood up and responded, "If you think it's important enough to skip breakfast for, then I'm going with you."

Ranma smiled at her and said, "Works for me, are you ready to run?"

"But what about breakfast?" Nodoka protested to an empty room.  She sighed as she finished her meal.  She stared unseeing into the distance as she thought.  Then her expression firmed as she went into the living room to pick up her family honor blade.  'If Ranma is worried, I may need this,' she thought to herself as she headed toward the hospital, leaving the dishes behind.

Ranma and Akane raced to the hospital, with Akane keeping up quite well, much to Ranma's surprise and secret elation.  Arriving at Nabiki's room, they found Kasumi and Tofu in the room.  To their disgust, Kodachi Kuno was in there as well, badgering Nabiki, trying to find out Ranma's whereabouts, and ignoring Kasumi and Tofu's attempts to force her out of the room.  When Kodachi saw Ranma, her face lit up and she danced over to him.

"Ranma, darling, where have you been?  Has this harridan spirited you away somewhere?" Kodachi asked, completely missing the clenched teeth and brilliant battle aura of the man she was addressing.

"Kodachi, get the hell out of here.  I'm not interested in you, I don't love you and in fact, I actually despise you," Ranma said heatedly.

Kodachi paled and asked, "Ranma, darling, what witch has cast this spell on you to make you say such hateful things?"

"Kodachi, if you don't leave now under your own power, I will toss you out," growled Akane, "This is for family only and you aren't welcome here."  She moved forward as if to carry out her threat.

"How boorish," Kodachi huffed, "I'll leave you alone for now, Ranma darling."  She attempted to kiss him, but Ranma ducked out of the way and pushed her out into the hall.  She stared back at him in shock, and then realized how angry he was.  She said, "I'm not done with you yet, Ranma," as she stormed off down the hall.

"Are you okay, Sis?  That bitch didn't hurt you or anything, did she?" Akane asked, worried about the pallor on her sister's face.

Nabiki took a deep breath and relaxed.  "No, she didn't hurt me.  She just wouldn't leave me alone.  She burst in here a few minutes before you guys got here.  Kasumi and Tofu tried to get her to leave, but they were too nice about it," she replied, "I'm okay now."

Ranma asked, "Do you know when you can come home from the hospital?  The sooner we get you out of here, the better I think."

Tofu cleared his throat and replied, "Actually, she should be able to leave today.  That's what I was trying to tell Nabiki before we got so rudely interrupted.  They want to check on her in a little while, and then she can be discharged."

"Okay, that sounds good.  Now, Kasumi, what did your father say to get you so worried?" Ranma growled, still trying to get his anger at Kodachi under control.

"Calm down first, Ranma," Kasumi said gently, "You don't need to be growling at me.  After all, I'm not Kodachi."

Ranma grinned sheepishly at her and responded, "Sorry, Kasumi.  You're right of course; I don't need to take my temper out on you.  Kodachi just wasn't someone I wanted to deal with today.  She's enough to try the patience of a saint, and Kami knows that I'm a far cry from one of those."

"That's all right, Ranma.  I understand completely.  I was about ready to toss her out on her, uh, ear when you showed up.  Bothering my sister like that was inexcusable," Kasumi said with a glint in her eye that Ranma found disconcerting coming from the normally placid Kasumi.

"Hey, don't take your anger out on me," Ranma teased gently.

Kasumi giggled for a second and then she sighed as she remembered his original question.  She replied, "When I talked to Father this morning to tell him that Nabiki was fine, he was extremely distant with me.  He also kept rambling on about family honor and Nabiki.  He wasn't making a great deal of sense, I'm afraid."

"Well he probably spent a large part of the night talking to Genma and drinking.  Between the idiocy that Genma was spouting and what probably is a major hangover, I'm surprised he was even coherent enough to talk to you anyway," Ranma said with a smirk.

"I wish I was sure that was all it was.  Father can be so easily led sometimes," Nabiki said sadly, "I should know, I've done it often enough in the past."

The door opened and a grim looking Soun walked in, followed closely by Genma.  "I would like to speak to my daughter alone," Soun said coldly.

"Fine by me, I need to talk to Saotome here anyway," Ranma said with a smirk as he grabbed Genma by the arm and dragged him protesting from the room.  Akane and Kasumi looked at Nabiki, who nodded.  They left, followed by Tofu.

Soun gazed at Nabiki as she slowly sat up in her bed and stared back at him.  He looked very uncertain now that Genma was no longer there to encourage him, but then he remembered what Genma had told him last night while they where drinking and his face firmed up.  His eyes flashed with anger as he asked his daughter coldly, "I want to know why my daughter felt like she needed to kill herself yesterday.  What did Ranma do to you that would cause you to want to do that?  Or was it the shame of being deserted by your lover for another?"

"Nice to see you too, Father.  I'm doing quite well, thank you for asking," Nabiki replied, in an ice-cold voice.  Then, her face flushed with anger, she continued, in that same unemotional voice, "Father, I've never had a lover, so there was no lover to desert me."

"You don't have to lie about Ranma.  His father told me the truth about him last night," Soun began.

"Genma wouldn't know the truth if it reached up and bit him on his furry ass!" Nabiki exploded, "Ranma had absolutely nothing to do with why I tried to kill myself.  In fact, of all of the people I talked to, including you Father, he was the most sympathetic and willing to forgive.  If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here talking to you now!"

"Why are you still trying to protect Ranma?" Soun said bitterly, "He tried to ruin your life."

"Father, you're a fool if you think that Ranma has done anything to me.  No, the only Saotome that did is that freeloading excuse you have for a friend.  If anything, Genma's the reason I finally snapped.  Anything he has told you about Ranma is a lie.  He is just trying to excuse his own conduct and try to shift the blame to someone else!" Nabiki said in ringing tones that echoed through the room.

Tofu burst into the room and asked heatedly, "What are you trying to do to my patient, Mr. Tendo? I don't need you in here upsetting her."

"This is between me and my daughter, Tofu," Soun replied.

Tofu said coldly, "Not where the physical, mental or emotional health of my patient is concerned.  If you can't keep from agitating her, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Not until I've gotten the truth about what happened from my daughter," Soun said, angrily.

"I've told you the truth, Father, you just chose not to hear it.  All I want now is for Akane to wed Ranma and be happy," Nabiki replied.  For the first time since he had starting berating his daughter, Soun looked unsure of what he thought.

Tofu barked, "That does it.  Out, Now!"

Soun took one look at his son-in-law's face and realized that he had stepped across a line that he shouldn't have crossed.  "I'll be back to talk to you," Soun snapped at his daughter as he thoughtfully walked out.  There he found a wild-eyed Genma being confronted by an icy-calm Ranma.

"You heard me, Genma.  Tomorrow at five o'clock, be at the sports field at the high school.  You have dishonored the Saotome School long enough and I will take the school away from you," Ranma said coldly as he handed Genma a formal letter of challenge.

Ranma nodded coolly to Mr. Tendo and made to leave when Tendo stopped him.  "What's all this about, Ranma?" Tendo asked.

"Just what I said.  It's time the Saotome branch of the school has a new master.  The reputation of the current one is soiled by what he has done in the past," Ranma said, glaring at Genma.  He said to Soun, "I'd like you to witness the challenge, Mr. Tendo.  After all, you are the master of the other school of Anything Goes."

"Son, you don't have to do this," whined Genma.

Eyes blazing in fury, his battle aura flaring larger than Genma had ever seen, Ranma said in a deadly emotionless voice, "Like I told you before, I'm not your son.  You destroyed that relationship with what you have done."  Genma slowly backed away, watching Ranma nervously.

As Genma turned to flee, he saw Nodoka standing there with her katana, her eyes cold as ice.  She pointed to a chair and said, "Sit.  Stay.  Don't talk."  Genma opened his mouth to protest and then closed it with an audible snap and sat down.

'I need to find out the truth,' Soun thought.  Soun hesitated and then asked, "Ranma, could I talk to you please?"

Ranma looked puzzled, but he shrugged his shoulders and followed Soun over to corner of the waiting room where they could talk without being overheard.  'Remember what Nabiki said about her father.  He thought he was doing the honorable thing.  Probably shouldn't stay angry with your future father-in-law, anyway,' Ranma thought to himself.

"Ranma, do you love my daughter?" Soun asked.

Ranma said, "I love Akane and I will marry her.  I would like your blessing and permission, but it will happen.  If you're talking about Nabiki, I care for her and think of her as a sister.  She realizes that now.  Is that what you were wanting to know?"

Soun frowned and said, "That's not what your father told me last night.  He said that he has seen Nabiki come out of your bedroom early in the morning on more than one occasion."

"Mr. Tendo, if Genma said that, he's lying.  There's only one woman for me and that's Akane.  On my honor, I've never had sex with anyone, much less Nabiki.  We went out on a few dates before I settled on Akane, but she just wasn't the right girl for me," Ranma said, "We don't have a lot in common.  I just wish I knew what Genma thinks he is doing, lying like this.  It doesn't make any sense.  It's not like him to stay with a plan that's failed as badly as this one."

Soun looked at the puzzled expression on Ranma's face.  He wondered if it matched the expression on his face, for he felt extremely confused.  Everything that his old friend Genma had said had been categorically denied by the very two people involved.  He knew how much that honor meant to Ranma after watching him the past year, so he felt sure that Ranma was telling the truth.  "I need to think about what you've said, Ranma.  I have to admit that I'm completely confused right now about what has happened.  I do know that I owe you thanks for saving Nabiki.  I'm sorry that I haven't had an opportunity to tell you how grateful I am that you did," Soun said quietly, "Thank you for saving my daughter's life.  I am in your debt."  He bowed with respect to the younger man, surprising Ranma.  Ranma bowed back in response.

Ranma thought for a second and said, softly, "Whatever may have happened between us, she's still someone I care about.  I saw she was hurting yesterday, but I wasn't quick enough."  He hesitated and then said, "Nabiki doesn't need to be around Genma, Mr. Tendo.  She's firmly convinced that he is the one who drove her over the edge.  Knowing him, he'll say something to depress her again.""

Soun nodded and said, "I understand, perhaps she should stay with your mother for the night.  I'll talk to Nabiki and ask what she wants to do."  Soun began to walk over to where his other two daughters were quietly talking with Shampoo when Kasumi looked up and saw him.  He froze not believing the frown of disapproval that flashed across her face.  His hand went involuntarily up to his face and rubbed the spot that she had slapped last night.  Saddened, he turned away, realizing that while his daughters may have reunited because of last night's actions, they were still angry with him and not yet ready to forgive him.

Ranma stared after Soun as he walked towards his daughters.  Ranma sighed as he saw Kasumi frown at her father.  'Man, I sure hoped that last night had helped with that.  Doesn't look like it has, yet,' Ranma thought.  Ranma walked over to join his fiancée and the other two girls.  "Kasumi-chan, he's hurting too, you know," Ranma chided gently, "Both you and Akane have to talk to him eventually."

Akane reached out her hand to Ranma who clasped it with his.  She looked at her father standing alone with his back to them, his shoulders slumped, and sighed, "You're right, Ranchan.  I need to talk with him."  They walked slowly over to her father and Akane said, softly, "Father, I think it's time we talked."  Ranma slid one arm around her waist for comfort.

Soun looked up, his eyes dull with pain, and smiled sadly, "Yes, Akane, I think it is as well.  This should have been a time of happiness for you, and instead we've turned it into a nightmare.  I thought I was doing the right thing, the honorable thing, I hope you know that."

"Father, I know that.  What hurts is that you didn't ask either of us; you just believed Nabiki and Genma.  You sent me to my room, and didn't even tell me what was wrong.  You just said that I couldn't marry Ranma," Akane replied, "I had already made up my mind that we were leaving.  I'm just glad I refused to obey, and listened from the head of the stairs."

"I think I'm glad you didn't listen to a foolish old man as well," Soun said ruefully, "You're correct, I should have talked to you both first before going off half-cocked the way I did.  I guess I'm just too easy to manipulate.  As your sister told me yesterday, I need to grow a spine.  Can you forgive me for being so weak?"

"I don't know, Father.  It will take some time before I can, I'm afraid," Akane said, "Ranma and I **are** getting married.  I'd like your blessing, but it **will** happen."

Soun smiled gently, "Yes, I know.  Ranma has already told me that, equally forcefully.  I find that reassuring in a way, actually."  He hesitated and then asked, "Nabiki wants you wed as well.  Why is that?"

"She wants to atone for what she did, Mr. Tendo.  Nabiki said she took a look at what she had become and didn't like who that was," Ranma said simply, "All three of your daughters want Akane and I to wed, and I know that I want the father of my bride there as well.  Think about what we have said, that's all we can ask.  Also consider the only one who is still trying to keep Akane and I apart and how reliable a person he has turned out to be."

Soun looked at them, his eyes troubled.  "I hear what you say, Ranma, Akane.  I don't have an answer now, daughter.  I need to understand what has been told to me and determine the truth," Soun replied, "I want my family back together, and I will do what it takes to make that happen."

"What we have told you is the truth Father," Akane said, coldly, "If you want your family back, you need to decide who you believe, the daughters that you raised or the man you hadn't seen since you trained together before we were born.  Come Ranma, I'm afraid we may be wasting our time here."

Ranma shrugged apologetically and followed Akane away.  Soun stared at them wistfully and then left the waiting room to find a place to think.  "Akane, we need to talk to Mom," Ranma said as he steered her over to Nodoka.  "Mom, can Nabiki spend a couple of nights at your house?  There's an unhealthy atmosphere at the Tendo's, and I think she will heal faster in more pleasant surroundings," Ranma asked.

"Certainly, dear.  I should have offered already," Nodoka replied, "Her bedroom is the last place she needs to be for a while.  One of us can run over later and pack another suitcase."


	7. Family Matters

Chapter 7 Family Matters

Nabiki was resting quietly on her bed in the hospital room, dressed in her street clothing, waiting for her release.  She was silently crying, regretting the pain she had caused to her family in her blind pursuit of a man that didn't love her.

Her father opened the door to her room and asked, "Is it okay if I come in?  I've spent some time talking to Akane and Ranma as well as spending time thinking and I discovered that I have been a bit of a fool."

Nabiki wiped the tears from her eyes, and replied, "Sure, Father.  Why not join another fool."

"Nabiki, daughter, I'm sorry for what I said to you before.  I should have believed you when you said that there wasn't anything between you and Ranma," Soun began, sadly.  Then his tone changed as he continued.  "I listened to my good friend Saotome last night and nearly drove another daughter away from me in my foolishness," he said bitterly, "I shouldn't have needed Ranma to set me straight by swearing on his honor like he did.  Both Ranma and Akane told me several things that are uncomfortable for me to face."

Nabiki grimaced as she replied, "Father, I can forgive you for doubting me.  After all, which Nabiki were you supposed to believe.  I'm the one that set this whole disaster in motion with my lies.  I can't blame you for not knowing which of the two stories I told you to believe.  I just hope that you can forgive what I've done to tear this family apart."

"I'm to blame for this mess as well, Nabiki.  I thought I was saving the family from a dishonorable situation by supporting you," Soun replied, with a sad smile, "But all I was doing was pushing two of my daughters away from me."

Nabiki answered, "Well, I think there is a little hope.  Akane and Kasumi are willing to call me sister again.  After what I did, I was afraid that I had driven them away completely.  It'll take Akane a long time for her to forgive me, but she did tell me she still loved me.  She doesn't like me much, not that I blame her.  The sooner they're married, the sooner she'll forgive me."  Then she said, under her breath, "And the easier I'll sleep at night."

"She's still angry with me as well," Soun said ruefully, "But at least she talked to me and called me Father.  Kasumi still won't talk to me at all.  I disappointed her a great deal, I'm afraid."

"I don't think Kasumi will talk to you until Mr. Saotome is gone from our life.  She thinks he is a bad influence on you and has certainly been upsetting the harmony of our house," Nabiki replied softly, "He is not a good man, Father.  Ask Ranma for the file I put together on what he's done over the last ten years and you'll see what I mean."

"I'll do that.  Speaking of Ranma, he suggested that being in the same house as his father may not be the best thing for you right now.  He said you would be welcome to stay at Nodoka's house with them if you want," Soun said.

Nabiki said shakily, "That's probably a good idea.  I really don't want to face Saotome right now.  I need some peace and quiet and I won't get it as long as he's around.  I definitely don't want to sleep in my bedroom until I'm rid of all of my fears."

Tofu and a nurse came into the room, the nurse pushing a wheelchair.  "Okay, Nabiki, you're good to go.  I've got all of the paperwork filled out and they've cut you loose," Tofu said cheerfully, "I think they want to rent this room out to someone else."

Nabiki grumbled as she sat in the wheelchair, "I'm not an invalid.  I can walk you know.  And don't tell me it's hospital policy!"

"Okay, I won't," Tofu said as he picked up the small suitcase containing her belongings.  Soun and Tofu followed the nurse out, Nabiki still grumbling, sitting in the chair.  As they entered the hall, Nabiki saw Ranma, and Akane waiting for her.

"Hi, sis, you ready to go?" Akane asked.

"Yeah.  I guess you guys have a new houseguest.  Think you can stand having me around again?" Nabiki asked, slightly wistfully, as the nurse wheeled her toward the elevator.

Ranma smiled quickly and answered, "Biki-chan, you're family and always welcome."  Ranma winked at his fiancée as he continued. "There's plenty of room, especially for someone cute like ya."

Akane playfully swatted her fiancé and said, "Hey, stop flirting with my sister.  Seriously, Sis, Ranchan's right.  You need to be someplace where you feel safe, and right now, Mom's house is the best place for you."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "Mom, huh!  So, did you two get married and forget to invite me?"  She giggled at the expression on Akane's face.

Akane blushed and replied, "No, we didn't get married.  It's just that Auntie Nodoka asked me to call her Mom.  I've been doing that for a while when it was just the three of us, and I guess I got used to thinking of her that way."

As the elevator doors opened, Ranma put his arm around Akane's waist and said simply, "Besides, it will be the correct thing to call her soon enough, at least if we have anything to say about it."  Everyone crowded into the elevator and Soun pushed the button for the ground floor.

"Mom and Kasumi will have dinner waiting for us when we get home," Ranma said, "And that us includes you, Mr. Tendo.  That is if you want to come.  Doc is joining us, of course."

The elevator stopped on the ground floor and the doors opened.  The nurse wheeled Nabiki past the doors of the hospital and down to the sidewalk, where she stopped.  Nabiki stood up in relief and said, "Thanks for the ride, but I guess this is where I'm supposed to get off."

"Well, this is where your ride in the wheelchair ends," Ranma said, "However, Acchan and I are under strict orders from Mom not ta let you walk home tonight.  Something about making sure ya have a good home-cooked meal in you instead of hospital food before ya exert yourself."

"So how do you propose to get me to her house, then?" Nabiki asked, puzzled, "I don't see a car or anything."

"I guess you're going to ride the Ranma Express, Sis," Akane said with a smirk

"What's the Ranma Express?" Nabiki said, then she squealed in fright as Ranma swept her up in her arms.

"Just hold on tight, I've got ya," Ranma said softly, with an apologetic look at Akane.  "You ready ta go, Acchan?"

Akane smiled and nodded, saying, "We'll see you two at Mom's house.  You guys play nice with each other, okay?"

With that, Ranma and Akane ran off, with Nabiki clutching in desperation to Ranma, one arm around his neck.  Soun stared in shock as Ranma and Akane jumped to the roof of a nearby building and roof-hopped out of sight.  The last thing they heard was a despairing wail of "Ranma-a-a-a" from Nabiki as they vanished from sight.

"When did Akane learn how to do that?" Soun wondered aloud.

Tofu laughed gently, and said, "Ranma taught her that.  That's why she has been wearing slacks or shorts more lately.  He says it's part of her training.  I know she enjoys it.  It's amazing how much ground they can cover that way.  Well, I guess we normal humans should start walking over to Nodoka's."  The two of them headed off in the general direction of Nodoka's house.

Nabiki couldn't believe what Ranma and her little sister were doing.  The two of them were jumping from roof-top to roof-top.  What's worse is she was being carried along for the ride.  She finally gave up and closed her eyes and turned her head until her cheek was against Ranma's chest.  Nabiki thought, 'Maybe if I don't look this will be over sooner.'  Eventually, though, she relaxed and just reveled in being held in Ranma's arms.  Of course, then the ride ended as they hopped down into the yard of Nodoka's house.

Ranma looked down at the head of the girl in his arms and sighed, thinking, 'I hope this wasn't a mistake.  I think she enjoyed being in my arms entirely too much.'  He said, quietly, "Hey, Nabiki, don't expect this happen very often, okay?" as he set her down on her feet.

Her eyes shining with excitement and just a hint of mischief, she kissed his cheek and said, "Don't worry brother of mine, while I finally managed to enjoy it, I think I'll walk next time."  She snickered to see the relief on his face, but then she whispered, "I won't tell Akane you enjoyed carrying me, either."

Ranma's eyes widened in fear as he stammered, "I-I-I don't know what you're talking 'bout, Nabiki!"  His cheeks reddened as he blushed, then he rushed into the house leaving a bewildered Akane and a giggling Nabiki behind.

"What was that about, Sis?" Akane asked innocently.

Nabiki turned and stretched, tightening her blouse across her chest, highlighting her nipples.  She replied, "Someone didn't bring a bra for me this morning, and well, I guess Ranma realized that, somewhere during our run."  She reached out and grabbed Akane and said, "Hey, it's not his fault, Sis, that he reacted, okay?"

Akane suddenly burst out laughing, as she hugged her sister.  "Nabiki, you're a horrible person.  How could you do that to him?"

Nabiki giggled as she answered, "Who me?  I didn't do anything, well, except maybe rub a little bit against his chest."

Ranma cautiously stuck his head out the door and asked, "Hey, are you two done making fun of me, yet?  Mom suggested that ya show 'Biki her room, Acchan, and then she wanted ta talk to us."

Nabiki followed Akane into the house and then up the stairs to the guest room.  "We brought some of your things over.  The blouses, slacks and dresses are hanging in the closet, of course, and the rest is in the dresser.  The bathing room is next door if you want to get cleaned up or maybe soak in the furo for a while," Akane said.

"Thanks, Sis.  I think I'll take that bath.  I really hate hospitals, they remind me of too many painful memories," Nabiki replied, "Maybe I'll feel a little more human after I soak in the furo.  Tell Auntie that she was right; I definitely wasn't up to walking this far.  I'm a lot more tired than I really thought I would be."

"Okay, I'll tell them you're gonna be in the furo.  Now, I'd better go see what Mom wants," Akane said.  She turned and left her sister looking around the pleasantly appointed guestroom.  Then Nabiki gazed at the bandage covering her left wrist, staring at it in indecision.  Then shaking her head, she carefully removed the bandage, and gazed grimly at the wound she had caused herself in her fit of despair.  'I sure did a number on this wrist.  It must have taken thirty or so stitches to close that cut," she thought, "How could I have let myself get that foolish?"  Angrily, she wiped away the tear that was rolling down her cheek as she swore silently to herself, 'Never again!  I've got way too much to live for to sink into that kind of depression.  I have a family that still loves me, in spite of my faults."

Nabiki wearily made her way down the hall into the bathing room next door.  After shutting the door, she took her clothes off and carefully hung them up on one of the hooks in the changing room.  She deliberately posed in front of the full-length mirror, gazing at the woman reflecting back at her.  'That's funny, I expected to look different for some reason,' she thought with a giggle.

After getting a towel from the rack, Nabiki opened the door to the bathing room proper and walked in.  After cleansing herself with soap and cold water, she climbed into the furo and allowed the warm waters to relax her.  After sighing contentedly, she allowed herself to slip down into the water until she was completely submerged except for the arm with the stitches.  After staying under for what seemed eternity, lost in her thoughts, she broached the surface and took a deep breath, feeling strangely refreshed and reborn.  Closing her eyes, she leaned back, resting her head against the side of the tub, letting the soothing waters of the furo finish its magic.

----------------------

Akane found Ranma in the kitchen with his mother and Kasumi, attempting without success to steal samples of the food they were preparing.  As she entered, Nodoka embraced her and then asked, "How's Nabiki?  Is she feeling all right?"

"She says she's a little tired.  Apparently, the ride over here took more out of her than she expected, plus I doubt she slept well last night.  She looked like she was feeling a lot better, though just getting out of the hospital was probably a part of that.  She said that she was going to go soak in the furo for a few minutes, hoping that might make her feel more alive," Akane answered, "What did you want to talk to us about, Mom?"

Nodoka hesitated and then unexpectedly lost her normal calm composure.  She turned away from Akane, looking at the floor, but not before Akane and Ranma both saw a look of anguish pass across her face.  Suddenly, Nodoka felt herself embraced by two strong arms, holding her tightly.  Looking up, she saw that she was sharing a hug with both her son and almost daughter-in-law, with Kasumi looking on in concern.

"I'm sorry, dears.  This is harder than I thought it would be," Nodoka said, as she began to weep.

"What's harder than you thought it would be, Mom?" Ranma asked, his voice filled with concern.

After getting her emotions back under control, Nodoka said quietly, "A few days ago, I set in motion several things concerning your father that will affect both of you as well."  She took a deep breath, and then continued, "I have had the two of us removed from the Saotome clan roster and added to my clan roster.  As of today, we are now members of the clan Himura.  Genma is now the last living member of the Saotome clan.  I have also set in motion the steps necessary to end my marriage to that person as well."

"I'm sorry it came to that Mom," Akane whispered.

"Oh my, Auntie!" Kasumi said as she moved to join the three of them in the group hug, surrounding Nodoka, "I can't say that I'm surprised though, I never did understand what you saw in him in the first place."

"It was an arranged marriage," Nodoka said, "that our parents agreed to.  Family honor required that I marry him, but I was very young when we did, only sixteen at the time.  He did make an effort to sweep me off of my feet.  I did love him then, but I don't recognize the person that he has become.  The man I fell in love with would not have done those things to you Ranma.  Something in him must have twisted."

"I can see how this affects me, Mom.  I guess this means I'm supposed ta be Ranma Himura now.  That'll take some getting used ta, I suppose, but I was already planning on taking the Tendo name when Akane and I wed anyway," Ranma said, "The Saotome name has become very painful ta me.  But how is Akane affected?"

"Since there is no longer a Ranma Saotome, any promises that Genma Saotome made are no longer valid, including any of the engagements," Nodoka said.

Stricken, her eyes starting to fill with tears, Akane asked, "Even mine?"

Ranma answered quickly, "Remember, I asked ya ta marry me.  That had nothing ta do with Genma.  That was my promise, not his."  Akane looked at him gratefully, and kissed him.

"Ranma's right, since he asked you to marry him because he wanted to, your engagement is still intact.  In fact, if you stop to think about it, now you know he is marrying you because of love and not family honor," Kasumi said, "Isn't that sweet?"

Nodoka smiled and said, "Kasumi, you're just a romantic at heart, aren't you?  But yes, you two are still engaged, Akane.  The other reason it matters is now you two can get married with just my permission and your father's."

"And I'm ready to give that, daughter," Tendo said from the doorway where he and Tofu had been listening.

Akane ran over and jumped into his embrace, yelling, "Thank you, Daddy!!"  Soun almost buckled from the impact.

"Ranma," Soun said gasping, "Nabiki said something about a file that I should read.  Do you know what she is talking about?"

Ranma replied, "I knew Saotome had done some things that weren't honorable.  Shortly after we arrived, I asked Nabiki ta trace our path from when we left home ta when we got ta your house so I could find out all of the people he had cheated.  She came up with a report that was even worse than I had expected.  I gave it ta Mom after we met.  I need ya ta read it, but only if ya promise not ta overreact.  Saotome has ta meet me tomorrow and fight me."

"I have it in the living room, Soun," Nodoka said, "You can read it after dinner.  Ranma, would you go let Nabiki know that it's ready?"

"Uh, wasn't she gonna go soak in the furo?" Ranma said, as he hesitated.

Akane said, "I'll go with you, Ranchan."  The two of them walked upstairs to find Nabiki.

Kasumi sighed and then said, "Father, I'm sorry I slapped you yesterday.  That was wrong of me."

Soun reddened, and replied, "Kasumi, there's nothing to apologize for.  I was hysterical and what you did was necessary."  He walked over and bowed to Kasumi, and then continued, "Kasumi, I apologize for what happened with Ranma.  They have made their peace with me.  Is it possible for us to do so as well?  I know I was a fool."

"Father, I accept your apology.  What you did was wrong, and I'm glad that you know it.  However, until that horrible man is gone, there can be no peace between us," Kasumi said sadly.

"He is my oldest friend, Kasumi.  It's hard to believe that he is as bad as everyone says he is," Soun replied, "But my family is more important than he is.  After tomorrow, I will ask him to leave."

"Thank you, Father," Kasumi replied.

Nodoka said, "Kasumi, I think everything is ready.  Let's get the food to the table.  You two go sit down."  Tofu and Soun left the kitchen and headed for the dining room, while Kasumi and Nodoka started bringing in the meal.

----------------------

Ranma followed Akane upstairs to get Nabiki.  Akane walked into the changing room and saw Nabiki's clothing still hanging on the hook.  She opened the door to the bathing room and saw Nabiki lying there with her eyes closed.  "Biki-chan, dinner's ready," she called softly.

Nabiki opened her eyes and slowly stood up, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her.  She stepped out of the furo and began toweling herself dry.  "Thanks, Acchan.  Tell them I'll be down in a minute, okay," Nabiki said softly.

Akane gazed at her for a second, and then said, "Sis, something's different about you.  You seem softer and warmer somehow."

"I'm not the same person that you knew two days ago, Acchan.  You might say that I actually succeeded in what I was trying to do.  The Ice Queen died sometime last night," Nabiki said wryly, holding her wrist out.

"If you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to later, let me help, please.  You shut everyone out in the past," Akane said.

Nabiki went into the changing room and began getting dressed.  "I think you'll find that I'm going to be a lot more open in the future.  I did hold everything in before; I'm not going to do that anymore," Nabiki said.  She finished toweling her hair dry, then she took a deep breath and said, "I guess I'm ready to face the rest of the world now."  Akane opened the door and the two of them left the changing room where they found Ranma leaning against the wall waiting for them.

"You're looking better, Nabiki.  There's a lot more color in your face than before," Ranma said.  Then his eyes narrowed as he noticed the wound in Nabiki's wrist.  He murmured, "That's odd.  Excuse me," as he pulled her arm up to where he could see the damage better.

"What's the matter, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, "You're scaring me."

"Hm-m, interesting," Ranma said, mostly to himself.  Shaking himself back to full awareness, he answered, "Actually, Biki-chan, nothing's wrong.  You're just healing fast is all.  That cut looks like it's a week old, not just one day."  Nabiki relaxed as Ranma released her arm.

"You think that flash of light last night had something to do with this?" Akane asked.

Ranma stared at Akane in awe, and replied, "That must have been what did it Acchan!  Somehow the three of us must have healed her or something.  I've never done anything like that before, but whatever it was, it knocked all three of us out.  I think we need ta talk ta Doc about this after we eat."  Ranma's stomach chose that moment to growl in agreement.

Akane and Nabiki burst out laughing while Ranma shrugged his shoulders and looked sheepish.  The three of them walked downstairs and found places to sit in the dining area.

After dinner, Ranma pulled Tofu aside and said, "Doc, something happened last night that we need ta talk ta ya about.  Could ya join us in our room?"

Curious, Tofu nodded his head and followed Ranma, Akane and Nabiki upstairs.  Once they got settled in the bedroom, Ranma turned Nabiki's wrist over and showed the healer the cut.  "Doc, this looks like she cut her wrist a week ago.  I think somehow between the three of us, we healed her last night."

Tofu looked startled, and then asked, "This **is** a lot farther along than I would have expected.  Why do you think you three healed her?"

"Well, the three of us were holding Nabiki's hand and basically were praying for her to be all right when suddenly a white light flared from the three of us and then included Nabiki.  It lasted for some time, I really don't know how long, and then disappeared.  After it went away, I felt drained, and then the three of us collapsed," Akane replied.

Nabiki added, "I was lost somewhere in my mind, Tofu.  I was surrounded by darkness, and then suddenly saw this bright, white light and felt a lot of warmth, especially on my arm.  I suddenly wanted to come back home.  When I woke up, the three of them were asleep."

"Well, Ranma has always been a quick healer.  I think that is because his chi levels are extremely high.  I've always thought that Kasumi had the healing touch, but I didn't mean it quite literally.  I wonder if somehow, between the three of you, that you combined to provide some chi energy to Nabiki," Tofu mused.  He gazed at Nabiki, trying to read her chi.  "Nabiki, your aura looks a lot better today, than when I read you yesterday.  It has some similarities in common with what I'm used to seeing in Ranma or Akane, though.  I'm going to need to think about this and do some research back at the office.  Do any if you feel any different?"

Ranma shook his head and replied, "No, physically I feel fine.  I was still pretty tired last night, but I'm okay now."

"I agree with Ranchan.  I feel fine," Akane said.

"Physically I feel fine, but emotionally, I feel different.  I feel a lot closer to Akane and Kasumi, for instance," Nabiki replied.

"I'll go down and check on Kasumi then, but I don't think there's anything for you two to worry about, now," Tofu said.  With that he got up and left the room.

Nabiki said, "I think I'll head to my room and try to get some more sleep.  Thanks again, you two, for loving me in spite of everything."  She leaned over and hugged Ranma and Akane and then started to leave the room.

"Sis, if you ever need someone ta talk ta, don't hesitate ta ask," Ranma said.

Nabiki looked seriously at Akane and said, "You've got a helluva guy there, Sis.  Don't do anything to lose him."

Akane said, "I know, but we were trying to keep it a secret from him.  He's egotistical enough as it is!"

Ranma smiled and said, "Stop it you two, now you're gonna embarrass me.  But thanks Nabiki.  You two are pretty special as well, you know."

Akane giggled and replied, "You say the nicest things."  She scooted over to Ranma and began to hug him.

Nabiki snickered and left the room, thinking, 'I ought to talk to Father first, though, before I go to sleep.'  She headed downstairs to find Soun.

Ranma moved his head closer to Akane and they kissed.

----------------------

Nodoka followed Soun into the living room and gave him the report that Nabiki had prepared.  She then went back into the kitchen to help Kasumi clean up, while Soun slowly sank down into one of the chairs and began reading the report.  As he read, he started getting angry.  Once he finished reading the report, filled with stories of betrayal, thievery, and abuse, he began to cry slow tears, and whispered, "Oh, Genma old friend, how could you have done this?  What happened to you?  You explained away all of the fiancées and I believed you."

"That's not all, Father.  Ranma and I are convinced that he wants to repeat his pattern, and try to steal the house and dojo out from under us," Nabiki said.  She walked gracefully to the couch and sat down next to her father.  "In fact, I know that he wants to control the money.  I don't think he is quite capable of trying to sell it and throw us out on the street, but he might be shortsighted enough to do that.  I really think he sees it as a way for him to live comfortably in retirement, but I could be wrong," she continued.

Soun grew grim-faced, and replied, "I can assure you that will not happen.  If Ranma and Akane are ready to get married, I will simply set up Nodoka and myself as trustees until they are old enough."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure they're not only ready to get married, I think they are pretty eager to do it," Nabiki said, "The only thing that has been holding them back was the situation with his father.  And between you and Auntie, he's no longer gonna be a factor, especially when Ranma defeats him tomorrow."

"If he shows up.  I wouldn't put it past him to run away, Nabiki.  Of course, if that happens, then he doesn't deserve the title of Master.  I guess my task will be to make sure that my old friend shows up," Soun replied.

"Thanks, Father," Nabiki said, as she surprised him with a hug.  Then she said, "Goodnight, I'm going to head on up to bed."

"Goodnight, Nabiki, I'll see you tomorrow.  I'll be heading home soon, at least once I think I can face Saotome," Soun answered.  Nabiki headed off back upstairs.


	8. Of Pandas and Men

Chapter 8 Of Pandas and Men

Nabiki woke up from a deep sleep, feeling refreshed. She had actually slept the entire night, something she hadn't been able to do since she had tried to betray her sister by trying to steal Ranma away from her. Opening her eyes, she gazed around the pleasantly appointed guestroom, trying to gather her thoughts. 'I feel better today than I have felt for a long time,' she thought, 'I wonder why that is? Hm, maybe it's because I'm actively trying to help Akane and Ranma now.' She sat up in her bed, and stretched. Even though it was still relatively early in the morning, she could hear someone moving around in the kitchen downstairs. Nabiki thought, 'I wonder if they have any coffee. I could sure use some caffeine right about now.' She got out of bed and threw on her robe over her pajamas and padded down the hall to the bathroom next door. After brushing her hair into something resembling submission, she went to check on her sister. Opening the door to the bedroom Akane was sharing with Ranma, Nabiki sighed. There she saw her sister, still asleep, snuggled up next to Ranma, who was holding her in his arms.

'Down girl! He doesn't belong to you. He never did. You've got a chance to make things right again, so don't blow it,' she told herself, 'Look at them there, they look like they belong together. And to think you wanted to destroy that happiness.' Closing the door, she walked downstairs to the kitchen, where she found Nodoka working on breakfast. To Nabiki's immense pleasure, Nodoka already had a pot of coffee ready and waiting.

"Good morning, Nabiki. You're up awfully early for you," Nodoka said pleasantly.

"Actually, I feel very rested for some reason, Auntie. I can call you Auntie again, I hope?" Nabiki replied.

"Yes dear, you can call me Auntie. I missed that from both my girls," Nodoka said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Darn onions," she said, "They always make me cry."

Nabiki turned politely away and poured herself a cup of coffee. After doctoring it with the appropriate amount of cream and sugar, she sipped the hot liquid in appreciation.

"When you're done with that, would you wake up Ranma and Akane? I'll have the meal ready here shortly, and I want to start making wedding plans with Akane," Nodoka asked.

"Sure, Auntie," Nabiki said, then she drained her cup and set it down on the counter. Leaving the kitchen, Nabiki headed back upstairs to wake up the other two members of the household.

----------------------

Ranma slowly opened his eyes after he was sure Nabiki had left the doorway and had shut the door behind her. 'I wish I knew what that sigh meant. I hope she's gonna be okay with all of this. Seeing Akane and I like this had to hurt,' he thought. After a few moments gazing at the woman in his arms, he reluctantly untangled himself from her, and rolled out of bed. He found some clean clothing and began to change into them. He had changed into new boxers and clean pair of pants, and had just taken off his shirt, when he heard the door to the room open. He looked up to see Nabiki staring at him, her eyes gleaming in frank appreciation at the sight in front of her.

"Sorry, Ranma, I thought you were still asleep. Auntie asked me to get you two up since breakfast is nearly ready," Nabiki said.

"Not a problem, Biki-chan," Ranma replied, "I'll get Acchan up, and then we'll come straight down. Thanks."

Nabiki closed the door, and headed back to her room to change into her school uniform. 'I will not lust after my sister's fiancé, I will not lust after my sister's fiancé,' she thought as a mantra as she left.

Ranma leaned over Akane and kissed her gently, and as he suspected, her eyes opened. "It's time to get up, Acchan. Nabiki said breakfast is almost ready," Ranma said softly.

"She's still not over you, Ranchan. You know that don't you?" Akane asked.

"Yes, but so long as she doesn't try to come between us, it won't matter, will it?" Ranma replied, "You can't expect her to turn her feelings off overnight."

Akane sighed as she got out of bed. "You're right, Ranchan. But it doesn't make it any easier," Akane said, "I'm trying to trust her again, but it'll take me some time." Walking over to the dresser, she found some panties, and then got her school uniform from the closet. Ranma blushed as she began to change out of her pajamas, but to Akane's secret delight he didn't turn away. Once they were finished dressing, Ranma caught Akane in a quick hug, and then the two went downstairs to join Nabiki and Nodoka.

After Nodoka had served the meal, she said, "I was wondering when you two wanted to get married, and what kind of wedding you wanted."

Ranma looked at the meal his mother had served a bit dubiously, and then took a bite. His face relaxed, as he tasted the food. "Mom, we want to get married as soon as we can make the arrangements. As far as the wedding itself is concerned, if we have a ceremony, I'd vote for a Western ritual," Ranma said, "By the way, this is pretty good. What is it?"

"It's called a Western Omelet, Ranma. I like to try different things occasionally, and I've had this before and liked it. Stop trying to change the subject, though. Why a Western ceremony?" Nodoka asked.

"Akane is too pretty to hide under a traditional wedding kimono. I want everyone to see who I picked. Besides, do you really think she would act submissive?" Ranma replied.

Akane blushed hearing those words, and hugged Ranma. She said, "I do want a ceremony, Mom. Just going down to the city hall and registering there won't mean as much. This is the only time I'm going to get married, and I want to do it right."

"When you get back from school, we can start making the arrangements. Now, though, it looks like you need to run if you're going to get to school on time," Nodoka said.

Ranma looked up at the clock in alarm, and then relaxed. "We still have plenty of time. Nabiki, are you sure you're up to going?" he asked.

Nabiki grimaced and said, "Yes, I need to go. If I don't, there's no telling what kind of rumors will get started. Besides, I wouldn't miss you beating up on Saotome this afternoon for anything."

"That's the spirit, Sis," Akane said. The three youths first hugged Nodoka and then picked up their school bags and headed out the door for the long walk to Furinkan High School.

As they headed toward school, Akane asked, "Ranchan, can you give Nabiki and I a few minutes alone? I'd like to talk to her."

"Sure, Acchan. Tell you what, why don't I meet you in the schoolyard?" Ranma replied. At Akane's nod, Ranma started running, quickly vanishing from sight.

"Sis, how are you doing with all of this? I'm worried about you," Akane asked.

Nabiki frowned briefly and replied, "Akane, I won't lie to you. I still love Ranma; I can't turn those feelings off. And it still hurts a great deal to see you two together. But, the two of you chose each other, and I've accepted that. I want him to be happy, and that means he needs to marry you, the woman he loves. Kasumi saw that before I did, and accepted it. I just need to do the same."

"Kasumi?" Akane asked, stunned at that news.

"She still loves Ranma as well, Sis. I thought you knew. She doesn't regret marrying Tofu; don't get me wrong there. She very definitely loves Tofu and wants you and Ranma to have the same happiness that she has. For all our sakes, don't ever give Ranma a reason to regret picking you," Nabiki said softly.

"I can't believe I missed the fact that both of you fell for Ranma," Akane responded sadly, "Did Ranchan ever know about Kasumi?"

"Kasumi said he did, and that he deliberately pushed her toward Tofu. Even then, I think he subconsciously had picked you as the one he wanted. It just took a while for it to surface," Nabiki replied, "Don't ever regret that he picked you. Kasumi didn't lose anything because of it and neither will I." She shivered as she heard what she had said, and then continued, "Well, I'm not going to lose anything else. Once the two of you are happily married, then I can finish healing, Sis."

Akane hugged Nabiki with unshed tears in her eyes. "Sis, I promise that I'll take good care of him for all of us. And I won't be jealous of you when the two of you are together," Akane said gently.

"Akane, you don't have any reason to ever be jealous of me. That was part of my problem before. I was so jealous of you, that when I saw that ring on your finger, I wanted to hurt you. I think I went a little insane," Nabiki confessed.

Akane looked puzzled, and asked, "Why would you be jealous of me? You're prettier than I am, a lot smarter and have a better body. I was always jealous of you because of that."

Nabiki started giggling, and then replied, "Because you had most of the guys in school chasing you, and you didn't want any of them, and I had no-one. You had tons of friends at school, and I just had a few acquaintances. So I spent all this time being jealous of you, and you've been jealous of me. What a couple of bakas we are!"

Akane began giggling as well. Finally, she calmed down, and said, "I guess we are at that, Sis. Don't tell anybody else, it can be our little secret!"

Nabiki hugged her sister and smiled, saying, "You got it Sis. I don't think I could handle the embarrassment if anyone else found out. Friends?"

"Friends!" Akane said with a smile.

As they approached the school, Ranma intercepted them before they could enter. His expression was a little stormy as they approached, but he smiled at both of them and asked, "Did you two clear the air between you?"

"Yes," Akane said as she snuggled up next to him so he could put his arm around her. "We drifted apart over the last couple of years, but the last two days have made us realize what we were doing to each other. We decided to be friends again," she continued.

"I've heard a lot of people talking about what happened the other day, Nabiki," Ranma said soberly, "You'll have some damage control to do, I'm afraid. We can take care of some of the stories about you and Akane hating each other now though."

Akane looked worriedly at Nabiki who smiled tiredly and said, "We can get through the day if we stick together, Sis. Ranma's right about shutting down the one set of rumors. All we have to do is be friendly toward each other and that will take care of that."

Akane held out her hand to her sister and said, "Tendo's against the world, huh? I feel sorry for the rest of the world."

"So do I, Acchan, so do I," Ranma said with a laugh, as he placed his hand on theirs. The three of them entered the schoolyard on that cheery note, laughing in amusement, walking hand-in-hand. As they walked by the gossiping students, a wave of quiet began to radiate out from around them, stilling the talk. As they reached the steps into the school, they separated, with Ranma and Akane each hugging Nabiki. As they separated, you could hear the sound of the proverbial pin drop, as the entire courtyard full of students face-faulted. Nabiki headed to her classroom, a secretive smile on her face as Ranma and Akane headed toward theirs.

----------------------

Akane and Ranma found their favorite spot for lunch and sat down against the tree in the grassy area around the school. Nabiki soon joined them, amid the buzz of the other students' conversation. Nabiki looked thoughtfully at Akane and asked, "Where do you want to hold the wedding, Sis?"

"I was thinking we should have it at our house, inside the dojo. I don't want a real large wedding, just family and friends. Since it's going to be a Western ceremony, I thought I'd ask Kasumi to be my Matron of Honor, and you would be my other bridesmaid," Akane replied.

"I was thinking of asking Doc to be Best Man, and I thought about asking Ryoga to be a groomsman," Ranma said, "What about Ukyo or Shampoo, though?"

"That might be a problem, Ranma. You don't really have any other male friends that you are really close to," Nabiki said. Then her eyes lit up in mischief as she continued, "Unless, you were planning to ask Ukyo to be a groomsman, of course."

Akane giggled and then suddenly looked serious. "Actually, that's not a bad idea, Sis. She is a good friend to both of us, and I'd like Shampoo involved as well. She's almost family as it is," Akane responded.

"I'll ask Ukyo and see if she wants to be in the wedding, then," Ranma said.

Ukyo looked from across the schoolyard and saw Ranma, Akane and Nabiki sitting together peacefully talking to each other. She saw Ranma look up and wave at her, motioning her to come over. As she neared them, she heard Akane giggling at something Nabiki had said.

"Hey, you three. Looks like the rumor mill was wrong. They were saying that you two were acting like you hated Nabiki," Ukyo said as she sat down with them.

"Well, we were. You and some of Akane's other friends know some of what had happened because we called you when we moved out. We never really hated her though," Ranma said with a sigh.

"Well, there was some truth to what they were saying, Ukyo" Nabiki replied, "I said a few things to Ranma that made him mad at me. Akane wasn't real happy when she heard about it either."

"Yeah, but that's water under the bridge, now, Sis. You've apologized for what you said, and neither of us could stay mad after you showed how truly sorry you were," Akane said.

"They were also saying you tried to kill yourself, Nabiki. At least that's what some of the girls were saying they had heard from someone at St. Hebereke," Ukyo said.

"Well, I did have a bit of an accident with a knife the other day. Ranma got me to the hospital in plenty of time, so there really wasn't anything to worry about," Nabiki replied.

Akane smiled and said, "We've got more important things to talk about than that, though. We're trying to plan a wedding. We were thinking about a Western wedding."

Ukyo's eyes grew wide as she asked, "So are you planning on it happening soon?"

"Yeah, Ucchan. As soon as we can make all of the arrangements. Speaking of which, I was wondering, well, I don't have a lot of friends that I would want standing with me. You're one of my best friends and well, Ukyo, would you do me the honor of being one of my groomsmen?" Ranma asked earnestly.

Ukyo began laughing but soon stopped when she saw that they were serious. "You're not kidding me, are you?" she asked quietly.

Ranma gazed at her, as he replied, "No I'm not kidding. Like I said before, you're one of my best friends, and even though it's not traditional, I want you standing up there with me. I'm gonna ask Doc and Ryoga to be the others."

"I don't know what to say, guys. I'm gonna have to think about it for a while," Ukyo replied. Then she said teasingly, "Though this wasn't how I thought I would be involved in your wedding, Ranchan."

Akane growled warningly and said, "He's mine, Ukyo."

"Sorry, Akane, I guess that wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. Looks like Ranma isn't the only one who can put a foot in their mouth," Ukyo replied contritely.

"No, it wasn't very funny, Ucchan," Ranma said with a sigh, "You should have known better than that, especially after everything that's happened recently."

"It's okay, Ranchan. She's allowed to be a baka, too," Akane said with a titter.

Ranma hesitated and then said, "There's something else happening today that you might be interested in Ucchan. I have a challenge match at five o'clock this afternoon at the sports field. You might want to see me beat this challenger."

"Who is it, Ranchan," Ukyo asked.

"Genma Saotome," Ranma said flatly.

Ukyo gasped and said in shock, "You challenged your father to a match!"

"No, I challenged the current master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. That person is no longer my father," Ranma said in an icy tone, which indicated he wasn't going to talk about it anymore.

"But," Ukyo began only to stop as she saw the warning looks from both Nabiki and Akane. "Sure, I'll be there. I want to see him get what's coming to him for everything he's done to all of us," Ukyo growled.

The bell rang indicating the end of the lunch period, so the four friends separated, Nabiki going back to her class, while the other three rejoined theirs.

----------------------

After school, Ranma waited at the sports field for Saotome to show up. A bit to his surprise, Mr. Tendo escorted his father to the field, showing up almost late. When Genma saw him, he blustered, "My boy, you don't have to do this. You're not ready to be the master of this school. I have much more to teach you about martial arts."

"I don't much like your training methods, old man. It took me entirely too long to recognize that. I can't let you hurt anyone else the way you've hurt me, and you've freeloaded off my family for entirely too long as well," Ranma replied.

Genma growled and asked, "What family are you talking about? You're my son, and I've never taken advantage of you."

Ranma stared at him icily, and replied, "Oh, selling me for food, engaging me to who knows how many women, throwing me into a pit of cats, getting me cursed, stealing my food every chance you got. No, you've never tried to take advantage of me at all. In front of these witnesses, I disavow being your son. You have no son anymore. Now are you ready to fight, or are you the coward you appear to be?"

"We fight!" Genma shouted as he rushed Ranma. As he neared Ranma, he swung a blow that would have knocked Ranma into another prefecture if it had landed. However, Genma telegraphed his swing so much that Ranma wasn't there when it went by.

Shouting, "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken**", **Ranma hit his father several hundred times in the chest, staggering the old man. Springing back, Genma angrily shook his head to clear it, wincing at what was probably a broken rib from the pain he was feeling.

"Nice try, Ranma, my boy, but not good enough," Genma rasped. He sprang into the air, soaring toward Ranma. Ranma leapt toward him, and then planted both feet into his father's face, knocking him backwards into the ground. Genma lay there stunned for a second, the wind knocked out of him. Genma struggled up, wiping the blood from his face. His nose was obviously broken, but ignoring the pain, and the blood pouring from both his nose and his mouth, Genma sprang at Ranma, and grabbed him in the Jigoku no Yurikago, however, Ranma head-butted him, and freed himself.

Springing back, Ranma allowed Genma to charge again, swinging wildly. As the fist approached, Ranma grabbed it, throwing Genma forward, dislocating the shoulder as he released the flying Genma. Genma landed hard, and bounced twice. Staggering to his feet, his right arm hanging limp by his side, Genma shook his head again, trying to clear his blurry vision.

Bellowing in fear, Genma attempted to run away, only to be struck by a blast of ki from Ranma who was yelling, "Möko Takabisha!!!" The blast knocked him forward and into the ground, where he lay still and unmoving.

Finally, groaning, Genma rolled over, and then stood up, swaying from side to side. "This ends now, old man," Ranma said as he came in with a Möko Ichigeki-tai, driving Genma to his knees, and then followed with another round of Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken to the face. When Ranma was finished, Genma's eyes glazed over and he collapsed, unconscious to the ground, blood pouring from his battered nose and mouth.

Ranma stood there panting; privately sickened by the battering he had given the man he once called Pop. Walking away from the beaten figure laying on the ground, Ranma approached Mr. Tendo. Soun looked at him, and asked quietly, "Are you okay, Son?"

"No, I'm not. I'd rather not talk about it, though," Ranma replied, tiredly.

Soun nodded in understanding and then proclaimed, "Ranma Saotome, I hereby name you Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes. May you bring honor to that school by your actions in the future."

Tofu approached Genma and rolled him over. "He'll need to go to the hospital, Ranma," he called.

Nabiki waved her cell phone and said, "There's one on the way. They should be here soon."

Ranma walked back over to Genma and asked, "Is he conscious, or still out cold?"

Tofu replied, "No, he's out cold."

Ranma sighed as he said, "Good, at least he's not feeling too much pain right now. I'll be by the hospital later with Mom to talk to him once he's conscious."

The ambulance rolled up to the sports field and the two attendants rushed out, carrying a medical kit and a stretcher. They quickly examined the unconscious figure before them on the ground, and then took him to the ambulance on the stretcher. Tofu went with them as they drove off to Nerima General Hospital.

Akane rushed over to Ranma and hugged him, saying, "Are you okay, Ranma? You look horrible."

"I feel lousy Akane. I brutalized him. He was so outclassed it wasn't even a contest. I didn't realize how much better I had gotten between sparring with all of you, and how bad he had gotten. I don't think he's really practiced much other than the half-hour or so we would let him every afternoon," Ranma said sadly, "I guess we need to go to your place and pack up all of his clothing so we can take it to him."

Akane gazed compassionately at Ranma and said, "You had to do it, though, for all our sakes. He has harmed so many people, including you, for so long that I don't think he would ever change."

"Yeah, I know, Acchan. But between Mom and I, we're gonna take everything that he ever wanted away from him. I've taken the school, and Mom has taken his family. I know he deserves everything that we've done, especially after what he tried to do to us and Nabiki, but I still feel bad about it," Ranma said. Finally, he sighed and said, "Let's go, we still need to swing by your place, and then head over to Mom's. We've still got a wedding to plan with her."


	9. Wedding Belles

Chapter 9 Wedding Belles

That evening, Ranma met Tofu at the door to Genma's hospital room. "How much damage did I do to him, Doc?" Ranma asked quietly.

Tofu replied, "You cracked three of his ribs, broke his nose and jaw, and dislocated his shoulder. The rest of his body is one big bruise. They've already reset the nose and immobilized his jaw, taped up his ribs and put his shoulder back where it belongs."

Ranma's eyes filled with a look of self-loathing as he heard the recitation of the injuries he had inflicted on his father. "So much for a martial artist only using his art to protect the weak," Ranma said bitterly, "Is he awake?"

Tofu looked at Ranma compassionately and then answered, "Yes, though the pain medication he is on is making him pretty groggy. You can certainly go in and see him if you want. Shampoo's in there with him right now, by the way."

Ranma looked surprised at that news, but decided to worry about that later. "Thanks, Doc. I do need to see him now. I have to apologize for what I did to him," Ranma said. Then he asked, "Are you gonna be around for a while or are you heading back to the clinic?"

"I need to get back to the clinic," Tofu replied, "I've done everything I can do here."

Ranma hesitated for a second, deciding if this was really the right time or place, but then said, "Doc, Akane and I plan on having our wedding as soon as possible. I'd like you to be my best man. Akane is over at the clinic right now asking Kasumi to be her matron of honor."

"I'd be honored, Ranma," Tofu replied, secretly pleased, "Thanks for asking me. We can talk later about the details of the ceremony. Right now though, I need to get home, and you need to see Genma." Tofu headed toward the elevator, leaving Ranma alone with his thoughts.

Finally, Ranma sighed and opened the door to the room and walked in. His face grew grim as he saw the heavily bandaged face of his father. It grew even grimmer as he saw the look of fear in his father's eyes. Shampoo's eyes narrowed in anger as she saw who had walked in. "What are ya doing here, Ranma? Come ta gloat over what ya did ta my airen?" she asked with a quiet anger in her voice.

"No, Shampoo, I didn't come to gloat," Ranma said quietly, "I came to apologize. I didn't mean for things to get so far out of hand as they did. I thought he could defend himself better. I didn't know I had gotten that much better than he was."

Shampoo relaxed and asked, "So you came to apologize then?"

"Yes. I'm not a warrior like you, Shampoo. I don't enjoy hurting people like this. I needed to beat him to become the master, but I didn't need to brutalize him. The amount of damage I did was unnecessary," Ranma replied. The note of self-reproach in his voice seemed to satisfy something in Shampoo. "I didn't see how much my anger was fueling my attacks. I didn't want to see, I guess," Ranma continued.

He walked over to the bed, wincing again as he saw the look of fear in his father's eyes. "I'm sorry it came to this, Genma. What I did was overkill," Ranma said softly, "You just needed to be beaten, not hurt like this."

Genma scribbled a note and handed it to Ranma. 'You don't really have anything to feel sorry for boy. I've had this coming for a long time. And to be honest, after what I did to you, Akane and Nabiki, I deserved a lot of this,' the note read.

"Maybe so, but I don't feel any better about what I did. I abused my abilities. If I had continued much more, I might have killed you," Ranma replied.

Scribble, scribble, scribble. 'The important thing is that you realize that now. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. You are one of the best martial artists I know. This may be the last lesson that I teach you, son, but I think you've learned it now. I just wish the lesson wasn't quite so painful!' this note read.

Ranma's face quirked in a lopsided smile and he replied, "A martial artist's life is faced with peril. Heal quickly, Genma."

Ranma turned to Shampoo and asked, "Could you step outside for a minute with me, Shampoo?"

Shampoo nodded and the two of them left the room. "Can I ask why you are here, Shampoo?" Ranma asked.

"Just because Shampoo don't like him much, doesn't mean he isn't my airen. Shampoo come when she hear of injury, this is where honor say wife should be," Shampoo said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"I understand now, Shampoo," Ranma replied quietly. 'We need to get this burden away from her. She doesn't want to be with Pop, either, but she feels stuck with him,' Ranma thought. "I'll be by tomorrow after school, I'm sure. Akane is looking for you, by the way." He looked one last time at his father, and then headed home, while Shampoo walked back into the room.

----------------------

The next morning, as Akane entered into the schoolyard, she was instantly mobbed by all of her friends, separating her from Ranma. Yuka asked, "Are the rumors true? Did you two set a date for your wedding?" All of the other girls clamored for attention, asking many of the same questions. Laughing, Akane allowed herself to be pulled along, smiling apologetically to Ranma as she was swept away by her friends' enthusiasm.

Ranma said over the uproar, "I'll see you in class, Acchan. If you're not there by the time the bell rings, I'll come looking for you." He headed toward the school, inwardly amused at the furor surrounding his fiancée. He though, 'Man, you'd think we were idol stars, or something, from the way they were acting. One good thing for sure, this should kill a lot of the other rumors that were flying around yesterday. Of course, I'm sure it will spawn a whole bunch more that are equally annoying. I bet Nabiki's having fun.' He looked up toward the window of Nabiki's classroom, and sure enough, his future sister-in-law was standing there in the window watching the confusion around Akane. She flashed him a quick smile and a wink, confirming Ranma's suspicions. As he entered the building, he smiled, thinking, 'I was right, she spilled the news as a counter to the stories floating around. One of these days though I need to remind her that it is easy to ride the tiger, the trick is to get off it without getting eaten.'

Akane waited until enough of the chatter had died down around her and answered Yuka's question, "Yes, we set a date for the wedding. It's this Saturday after school. And before any of you ask, it's then because we want to get married, not because we have to. I'm not pregnant, neither one of us is dying, and we aren't quitting school. I think that takes care of most of the really stupid rumors I heard yesterday." That announcement set off another flurry of questions, most of which Akane couldn't hear.

Sayuri asked the next most burning question, "Where is the wedding going to be?"

Akane responded, "It'll be at the dojo, of course, Sayuri. We decided to have a Western ceremony. It's kind of nice; Ranma said he didn't want me to hide under a robe. Of course, I think he'll look more handsome in a tuxedo than in a formal kimono as well. All of you are invited. Nabiki's handling all of that." Akane looked at the time and said, "We'd better hurry to class or we'll all be late, and I for one don't want to hold water buckets today!" With that she forced her way to the mob of girls and headed toward her classroom.

----------------------

Ranma and Akane entered his mother's house, with Akane saying, "Tadaima!" As they entered the living room, they saw that they had guests. Ranma recognized the Amazon Elder Cologne, who was escorted by a young man, about his own age, wearing a white robe with billowing sleeves and long, black hair.

"Akane, this is Elder Cologne. I asked her to come over today to discuss the situation with Genma. The young man with her is her aide Mousse. Cologne, Mousse, this is Akane Tendo, my son's fiancée," Nodoka said.

Good afternoon, Elder Khu Lon, you honor our house with your presence, Ranma said politely, Muu Tse, welcome to our house as well.

Cologne cackled, and said, "Thank you Ranma. Someone's been teaching you some manners, I see. Must be the young lady."

Ranma flashed a quick smile, and replied, "Would you prefer I call you old ghoul still?"

Cologne shook her head in amusement, and answered, "That sounds more like the youngster I knew in the village. Now that we've satisfied all of the courtesies, why did you ask me to visit, Nodoka?"

"I have set in motion several things that affect Genma Saotome, and I wanted to let you know what they are. I'm concerned about the girl Shampoo and how this may impact her," Nodoka replied.

"What things have you done?" Cologne asked.

Nodoka replied, "As of two days ago, Ranma and I were removed from the Saotome clan registers and listed on my families clan, Clan Himura. Yesterday, Ranma challenged him for mastery of the Saotome School, and beat him rather severely. While he stays at the hospital, he is of no concern for Shampoo, though she did visit him last night. I hope that is because of her belief that he is her airen, and not because of any genuine sense of affection." Hearing that, Mousse grew visibly upset.

"Why did you two decide on these actions after so long?" Cologne asked.

Akane replied, wearily, "For many reasons Elder. Ranma and I got engaged several days ago. My sister Nabiki had secretly been in love with Ranma and went crazy with jealousy when she discovered that. She conspired with Genma in an attempt to force Ranma to marry her, fooling both my father and Nodoka into believing her. When that plan backfired, Ranma disowned his father, and Genma drove Nabiki to try to kill herself. Ranma prevented that from happening, and we reconciled with her. Because of Genma's cruelty toward Nabiki, Ranma swore at that time to drive him away from Nerima."

"Once I found out what he had done, that was the final straw for me as well. I had allowed myself to be fooled by that man once more, and that was too much to bear. He almost cost me the love of my son, as well as the love of three girls that I had come to see as my daughters," Nodoka added, "I found that I could not let that continue. For the sake of our two families, we needed to separate ourselves from Genma. I have come to a decision about my husband. After thinking about everything he has done, I realized that whatever I had seen in him had vanished. After his near destruction of my son, his reckless disregard for the feelings of other people and his total contempt for women, I no longer wish to be his wife. I have started the necessary steps to correct that mistake."

Cologne expression grew grim as she pondered what she had heard. She sighed and said, "It appears that he is worse than I thought. But what is it that you need me for?"

"Several things, actually. First and foremost, I ask you to release Shampoo from her kiss of marriage. Obviously, she has no desire to be his wife, either. She shudders every time he comes near her," Nodoka said.

"I see no problem in releasing my great granddaughter from her kiss of marriage. No one should be forced to wed your husband. I see I must visit her and let her know that her ordeal is over," Cologne replied.

Ranma hesitated and then said, "Cologne, Akane and I are being wed this Saturday. We would be honored if you would attend."

Cologne smiled and answered, "Mousse and I would be honored to come, Ranma. You were a worthy student of mine. For now though, we will take our leave. I think I will visit Shampoo on our way to the embassy."

----------------------

As Shampoo opened the door to the Tendo home, she was surprised to see her great grandmother, the Elder Cologne as well as her erstwhile suitor, Mousse. Shampoo gasped and then said, Great grandmother, what are you and Muu Tse doing here? Am I in trouble because I haven't come back with my husband?

No, child, you aren't, Khu Lon said kindly, In fact that is why I am here tonight. May we come in? Xian Pu blushed and stepped out of their way and allowed them entry into the house. She led them into the living room and then sat down.

My airen is in the hospital, where he is recuperating from his injuries. I was intending on heading over there right now, Xian Pu began.

That is not important right now. What I came here for was to ask you a much more important question. Tell me what you have learned from these people, Xian Pu, the Elder asked.

Xian Pu pondered the question carefully. Her great grandmother would not have come all this way to ask that casually. She wasn't sure how she knew, but Xian Pu realized that the answer she gave was extremely important to her great grandmother. Xian Pu answered carefully, I have learned many things, Elder Khu Lon. One is that our culture, our traditions, are not the only way to lead an honorable life. Ranma and his mother, both have shown me that they value honor above all things. In spite of the many issues that fool Saotome created for his son, Ranma attempted to solve them as honorably as he could. His mother has had many long talks with me. She could have easily turned me away but she welcomed me into her family, treating me as an equal, but also as her daughter. She showed me that family and clan are important to her as well. The Tendo women and Ukyo are friends that I cherish. In many ways they would be worthy to be considered Amazon warriors. Another thing they have shown me is that it is possible to follow ancient traditions and yet live in a modern world. Our culture avoids that, and that may yet prove to be a mistake. I'm concerned that we may not be adaptable enough.

The Elder Khu Lon smiled proudly as she said, Well answered, Xian Pu. I too have often thought we were too rigid. While we must hold to our customs and traditions because that defines who we are as a people, we must also be able to survive in the modern age. While our villages are still quite isolated, eventually modern civilization will encroach upon us more and more. We have to be ready for that. What about your Airen?

Xian Pu said simply, Losing to that fool has taught me something as well. One is that even the best martial artist can be beaten if they are too arrogant. I let my anger and my pride blind me and thus fell easy prey to an opponent who is nowhere near my equal. I lost to him before I even stepped on the challenge log. However, he is not worthy of my respect. He is lazy, dishonest, a drunkard and a cheat. He has an extremely poor opinion of women. He has done many dishonorable things in his life. He in no way deserves the honor of becoming an Amazon warrior.

Then it is a good thing that you cannot wed him. His prior marriage to Nodoka invalidated the kiss of marriage you gave him. I hereby declare that null and void, Khu Lon said, with a dry chuckle at the look of relief her great granddaughter gave her. However, I had one question. If you dislike your airen that much, why did you go to the hospital last night, and why were you planning on going again tonight?

He was my airen, and beside his hospital bed was were a good wife should be. My honor demanded that of me, even if my personal feelings made me wish otherwise, Xian Pu replied.

Excellent answer, my child. It seems that you have learned many of the lessons that I wished you to learn, Khu Lon stated.

Xian Pu asked, Does this mean I must return to the village?

Only if you wish, Xian Pu. If you wish to stay here to finish your education, that is your choice. I will be returning shortly to the village, but you may stay if that is your desire, Khu Lon replied.

I would like to stay if I could. I have come to love my new family and friends and would miss them greatly. I have even enjoyed school and I would like to go to college, Xian Pu answered.

Then it is decided, child. You have my permission to tell Nodoka and her son about the kiss of marriage. Treat Nodoka as you would treat an Elder of the village. She has much wisdom still to teach you, Khu Lon said, I will see you again before I leave. Ranma has invited me to his wedding with Akane Tendo this Saturday.

Khu Lon got up to leave, but Muu Tse stayed seated. He said, I need to talk to Xian Pu for a few moments in private Elder, if that is acceptable to you?

Khu Lon stared at his inscrutable face, attempting to read him. Finally, she gave up and said, I'll wait outside. Don't be long, Muu Tse. She hopped out of the room.

Muu Tse looked sadly at Xian Pu and asked, When we were younger, we were friends. What did I do to make you dislike me?

You started stalking me. I don't like people who do that. Every time I turned around in the village, you were there saying you loved me. You weren't as good at martial arts as I was, and then your eyes really started to go bad, making you even worse. The rest of the village thought it was beneath me to even allow you near me. While I know it was wrong of me, I let that affect my opinion of you. I need a strong man to love me, a true warrior, and that's not what you were, Xian Pu replied.

That's not true, Muu Tse protested, I am a strong warrior, Xian Pu. I'm a master of the school of Hidden Weapons. They don't make just anyone a master!

True. But we're talking about then, not about now. You know our laws. You first have to beat Airen in combat, and then fight me. You can certainly beat Airen, but I'm a different story. Ranma has continued to train me in his school, so I'm even better than I was back in the village, Xian Pu said.

Muu Tse slumped his shoulders. That's my real problem, Xian Pu. I can't bring myself to hurt you. I couldn't fight you and risk that. he said dejectedly.

Suddenly, Shampoo noticed something that she had somehow missed. "Mousse, where are your glasses?" she asked.

Mousse looked up startled, and then answered, "I went and had laser surgery done. My eyes are fine now. That's where I've been since the last time you saw me. I had to earn the money first, and then heal up afterwards. So no more chasing the wrong person, thinking it is you."

Shampoo looked thoughtful. "Mousse, I won't ever be yours. You need to stop thinking about me that way. However, there isn't any reason why we can't be friends, if you can stop obsessing over me," Shampoo said.

Mousse sighed heavily, and then said, "Shampoo, I'm not sure I can do that. I need to think about it for a while. I'll see you at the wedding, I'm sure. Maybe we can talk some more then." He bowed politely and then left.

----------------------

The afternoon for the wedding was a bright, sunny day, which Akane took as a good omen for the future. Nodoka had been wonderful, making sure everything came together for the wedding. Nabiki had somehow managed to get all of the tuxedos and dresses ready in time. When Akane asked how she had done it, Nabiki just smiled and said, "Consider this part of my wedding present, Sis. I just used some of my connections, don't worry."

Ranma was at the altar waiting for his bride to appear, wondering how the collar of his shirt had gotten so tight. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw Tofu give him an amused, but sympathetic look. Tofu whispered, "Don't worry, Ranma. No groom is ever comfortable at his wedding."

"If that is supposed to make me feel better, it doesn't, Doc. Why do we do this, anyway?" Ranma whispered back.

Tofu just smiled and said, "For them of course, Ranma. We do it for our women."

Ranma gazed out over the crowd, seeing the many familiar faces. Most of their classmates had come to see them wed. His mother was already seated, at the front of the room, smiling calmly at her son, with her ever-present katana next to her. Cologne and Mousse were sitting on the aisle about halfway back, Mousse with a bemused look on his face, while the Elder was gently smiling. Finally, the door to the dojo opened, and the bridesmaids began to appear. Shampoo started walking slowly down the aisle, the color of her dress matching quite nicely her lavender hair. Mousse's eyes gained a wistful look as she appeared, then grew calm. Shampoo met them at the altar and then walked over a few paces to stand opposite Ukyo, who looked quite handsome in her tuxedo. Nabiki appeared and began walking down the aisle, her face mysterious, with a hint of mischief. She turned at the altar and then stood opposite of Ryoga, who seemed to have the same problem with his collar as Ranma did. Finally, Kasumi came walking down the aisle, her air of calm radiating out from around her. When she got to the altar, she gave Ranma a quick smile, and then stood opposite her husband.

Ranma swallowed, his throat dry, as the door opened again, and a vision in white walked in, escorted by her father. Akane was simply stunning, and suddenly Ranma realized what Tofu had meant. Seeing her, looking this radiant, made the tux and every thing else worthwhile. Akane and Soun slowly approached, the crowd rising to their feet as they walked down the aisle. Stopping before she got to the altar, Akane hugged Nodoka, who beamed her approval. Stopping at the altar, Soun gave Akane's hand to Ranma to hold. He smiled at them both, and then sat down. As she joined him, Ranma looked over and whispered "Kawaii." Akane's eyes got even brighter, if that was possible, and then she blushed. The two of them turned to face the minister, waiting for him to start.

The minister began to speak, words that Ranma couldn't hear, or remember, lost as he was in his bride's glorious eyes. Suddenly the door slammed open, and Kodachi stormed in, wearing a black bridal gown. "Ranma darling, I've come to save you from this peasant," she cried as she ran down the aisle, holding a bouquet of black roses.

Ranma turned, stepped in front of Akane and glared at Kodachi. He said, in an angry voice, "Kodachi, get out of here. I am marrying Akane. She is the woman I love. I only feel disgust for you!"

"How dare you interrupt my wedding, you bitch!" Akane said from behind him. Ranma noted with quiet amusement, that Ryoga had stepped in front of Ukyo to protect her, which made Ukyo fume. Tofu had stepped over and was protecting Kasumi.

As she was about to throw the roses at Akane, suddenly a set of chains came flying from nowhere, wrapping around Kodachi and pulling her to the ground. The roses exploded, and the gas emitted by them paralyzed Kodachi. Ranma bowed in thanks to Mousse, who gravely bowed back in response. Then Mousse got up and slung Kodachi over one shoulder and left the dojo. The minister cleared his throat and then continued the ceremony.

The minister said to Ranma "Ranma Saotome, will you have Akane Tendo to be your wedded wife, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony; will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do," he managed to say, just barely loud enough to be heard. Akane smiled.

Then the minister asked Akane, "Akane Tendo, will you have Ranma Saotome to be your wedded husband to live together in the holy estate of matrimony; will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him, so long as you both shall live?"

"I most certainly do," she replied in a ringing voice. Ranma looked stunned for a second at the assurance in her voice, 'It's really happening,' he thought.

Then the minister asked him, "What pledge do you give of the sincerity of your vows?"

"A ring."

The minister asked Akane, "Do you accept this ring as a pledge of the sincerity of Ranma's vows?

She answered, "I do."

Ranma said with a little prompting, "With this ring I thee wed. And with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

Then the minister responded, "And may this circlet of pure gold which has no end, be henceforth the chaste and changeless symbol of your evermore pure and changeless affection."

Then he asked Akane, "What pledge do you give of the sincerity of your vows?"

"A ring."

The minister asked, "Ranma do you accept this ring as a pledge of the sincerity of Akane's vows?

Ranma replied, "I do."

Akane said in a vibrant voice, "This ring I give you in token and pledge of my constant faithfulness and abiding love."

The minister said, "And may these rings given and received, be the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites your two hearts in love that has no end. Forasmuch as Ranma and Akane have consented in holy wedlock, and have thereto confirmed the same by giving and receiving each one a ring; by the authority committed unto me, I now declare you husband and wife." The minister paused, and then said, "You may kiss the bride."

Ranma blushed, and then proceeded to kiss his wife for the first time. He looked at Akane, and lost himself in her glorious eyes. He hesitated, and then bent down and kissed her. She reached up and held him in place as he attempted to back away, embarrassed to be kissing in public.

Finally, Nabiki snickered and said, "Why don't you two get a room?" Blushing, the newlywed couple broke apart, and turned to face the crowd.

The minister said, "May I now introduce Ranma and Akane Tendo." The audience applauded as the couple held each other's hand. Then they walked down the aisle, and out the door. Slowly the rest of the bridal party made their way out of the dojo and on into the yard for the reception.

Nabiki disappeared into the house to find what had happened to Kodachi. She found her in the living room, tied up with a gag over her mouth. The tall, young good-looking man who had captured her was standing over Kodachi, with an amused look on his face. Nabiki said, "Thank you for your quick reaction. I'm Nabiki Tendo, I don't believe we've met before."

The young man bowed and said, "My name is Mousse. I'm an old acquaintance of Shampoo. Ranma and Akane invited Elder Cologne to the ceremony and I am her aide."

"Welcome to our home, Mousse. Aide to an Amazon Elder, that sounds very important," Nabiki replied.

Mousse smiled easily and said, "It means I mostly fetch things for her, is all. The title is much loftier than the actual job." He hesitated and then said, "I took the liberty of calling your police over this incident. They should be arriving shortly."

Nodoka entered the living room, carrying her katana. She said, "Thank you for doing that Mousse. It's time we put an end to the harassment that the Kuno family has been doing."

Nodoka walked over to Kodachi and removed her gag. "As for you, young lady, I believe my son has told you on more than one occasion he has absolutely no interest in you. What you attempted to do today is inexcusable," Nodoka said sternly.

Kasumi showed a police officer into the living room. Nodoka smiled pleasantly at him and said, "Thank you for coming, officer. My name is Nodoka Himura. This woman attempted to stop the wedding of my son. She has this delusion that he loves her, in spite of the innumerable times he has told her otherwise."

"Ranma darling is mine! If I can't have him, then no one will!" Kodachi said wildly, still struggling against her bonds.

"I am Lieutenant Saito. What is this young woman's name?" the officer asked.

"She is Kodachi Kuno," Nabiki replied.

The officer stiffened and asked, "Is she related to Tatewaki Kuno, who is in jail for attempting to murder a Ranma Saotome?"

"Yes. She is his sister. Ranma is my son," Nodoka replied.

Saito cursed under his breath, and said, "Would it be possible for me to talk to your son and his new wife? I apologize for the inconvenience this will cause, but it is necessary."

"Of course, Lieutenant. Kasumi, would you be so kind? I'm sure Ranma is ready to escape from the attention anyway," Nodoka asked. Kasumi nodded and left the room.

"If it wasn't for Mousse, things could have gotten a bit ugly," Nabiki said, "He's the one that stopped her from attacking us."

Mousse said, "It is the duty of a martial artist to protect others. Ranma, Tofu and Ryoga did the same when they stepped in front of their women."

"Yeah, and I bet Ukyo still hasn't forgiven Ryoga for doing that. I had to hide behind Shampoo, myself," Nabiki added.

Ranma and Akane entered the room, still dressed in their wedding attire. "Officer, I am Ranma and this is my wife Akane. Kasumi said that you wished to speak to us," he asked.

"Ranma darling, there you are. Have you come to rescue me from this boorish lot?" Kodachi asked.

"Kodachi, I am not now nor have I ever been your Ranma darling. I've told you that many times," Ranma answered, angered by her presence, "Why is she still here? She tried to assault us during the wedding ceremony. If it weren't for the quick action of Mousse, she would have hurt someone. Thank you again for that, Mousse, by the way. We are in your debt."

Saito asked, "Has she been stalking you long, Saotome?"

Ranma said irritably, "Sorry, the name's Tendo now. And to answer your question, yes. Ever since I saved her when she fell off the roof of this house several months ago, she has been obsessed with me."

"Sorry, I didn't realize you had taken your wife's name," Saito said. Ranma waved off the apology, as Saito continued, "What was she doing up on the roof in the first place?"

"She had come to attack me. She is the captain of the St. Hebereke Martial Arts Gymnastics team, and our school was having a match with hers. She believed in preempting the match by taking out all of the opposing team prior to the match, and I was her opponent. We ended up on the roof during her attack, and she slipped off. Ranma saved her by catching her before she hit the ground," Akane said.

"Do you intend to press charges this time?" Saito asked, "It sounds like before you didn't wish to bring the authorities in."

"Yes, I think it's time. Before, my son and his friends tried to take care of it themselves because of their martial arts code. Now, however, she crossed the line and could have hurt other people. I want her arrested, and held over for a medical exam. I think she is crazy," Nodoka answered.

"I'll take her away now. I'll have some more questions for all of you later, but they can wait. I've taken you away from the reception long enough," Saito said. He placed a set of handcuffs on Kodachi and untied her.

Kodachi glared at him and said, "My family will have you broken, Lieutenant."

He merely said, "I've heard that before." He bowed politely to the rest of the party and led Kodachi out of the house.

Ranma, Akane and Nodoka headed back to the reception, leaving Mousse alone with Nabiki. She said, "I'd like to add my thanks for your intervention, Mousse. More than likely the one you saved from getting seriously hurt was me. The rest of the wedding party were martial artists. I've been slowly regaining my old skills, but I am not in their class. Ranma is not the only person who owes you a debt. I feel that I do as well."

"Your welcome, Nabiki. I'm just glad I was able to help. I've only met Ranma and Akane once, but from what the Elder has said, he is someone that I will be honored to know," Mousse replied.

"I could use an escort to the reception. Could I impose on you?" Nabiki asked.

"Gladly," Mousse said, allowing her to take his arm and lead him into the backyard.

As they entered the backyard, Akane saw them and said, "Just in time, Nabiki. I'm about ready to toss the bouquet. Go get with all of the other single girls. Remember, it's bad luck for it to hit the ground." Protesting mildly, Nabiki allowed herself to be bullied into joining the small mob of giggling girls. Akane turned around and threw the bouquet over her shoulder. To Nabiki's shock and dismay, none of the other girls made a serious attempt at catching the bouquet as it came straight at her and landed in her arms.

"Why do I think I was set up?" Nabiki growled at her sister as Akane came to congratulate her for catching the bouquet.

Akane gave her best 'Who me' look and said, saccharinely, "Why sister, what would ever have given you that idea? Would I do that to you?" She went back up to where Ranma was, and sat down in a chair so he could attempt to take off her garter.

"Stupid gaigan custom, like I'm going to be the next one to get married," Nabiki grumbled as she was led away by the other girls so that the single men could attempt to catch the garter. Soon, however, she was laughing at Ranma as a blush slowly crawled across his face, especially considering some of the ribald comments he was getting.

Ranma stood up, after successfully removing the garter off of his giggling wife and turned around. He stretched the garter, and shot it up into the air. The garter landed in the hands of a very surprised Mousse, who hadn't even been in the crowd of single men, and had been standing towards the back talking to Cologne. If Cologne hadn't said, "Catch this!" he wouldn't have even had his hands out.

"What's this for?" Mousse asked.

Nabiki answered, "It's a silly Western custom. Kasumi insisted we do it. She gets that way sometimes, because Ranma and Akane wanted a Western ceremony, we have to do everything that goes with it. Supposedly, the girl who catches the bouquet is the next woman to get married. Same thing with the garter, since you caught it, you're supposed to be the next groom." Their eyes met as they both laughed at how ridiculous sounding that was. Privately she thought, 'Even if it is a silly gaigan custom, maybe there is someone out there for me!'


	10. Two Gentlemen of Nerima

Chapter 10 Two Gentlemen of Nerima

The day after the wedding, Nodoka answered the door of her house. There standing at the door was Shampoo, looking happier than Nodoka had ever seen her. "Nodoka, can we talk?" she asked.

"Certainly, child. Come on in. I've just made some tea, and was about to sit down and have a cup," Nodoka replied. She led Shampoo to the kitchen, where she poured a second cup of tea and handed it to Shampoo. The two of them sat down at the kitchen table and savored their tea, Nodoka content to wait for Shampoo to start the conversation.

Finally, after finishing her tea, Shampoo said, "I saw Elder Cologne the other day. She has released me from my Kiss of Marriage to your husband. She said I could tell ya and Ranma about that. I decided that I should wait until after the wedding, though, before I came ta see ya. I knew that ya were pretty busy with all of the arrangements for that."

"That was thoughtful of you, dear," Nodoka replied, "You're right, I was entirely too busy with the wedding to sit down with you and discuss this properly. It was your wish to have the engagement with Genma dissolved, wasn't it?"

Shampoo shuddered and replied, "Yes, Elder Nodoka. If my customs hadn't of forced me ta come, I wouldn't have. Don't take this wrong, as I mean no insult, but your husband turns my stomach. I am a daughter of Amazon warriors, a proud woman in my own right, and his opinions on the proper place of a woman would get him killed in my village."

"Pity that he's not there now," Nodoka mused. Shampoo shot her a sharp look, as Nodoka continued, "Shampoo, now that you are free of him, I can finish what I have started. Over the last several days, I have begun the steps of severing all of my ties with Genma. A few days ago, Ranma and I were removed from the Saotome clan roll, and added back to my family roster. I have also started the divorce process so that I will no longer be wed to that man as well. I have waited until you were ready before I told my soon-to-be former husband any of this."

"Then we should do that soon," Shampoo replied, "I'm an Amazon warrior, we definitely believe in kicking an enemy when she's down. Your son has removed his school, and his pride in martial arts, ya will remove his family and wife, and I will remove a potential mate. There's little left for ya ta take away."

"I can visit him today in the hospital. I know that you have been visiting him, as a good wife should, as have I. It's time for that charade to end," Nodoka replied. Then curious, she asked, "What are your plans, Shampoo? Now that you are free of Genma, do you intend to go home to China?"

Shampoo stared into space for a moment and then replied, "Elder, my tribe has many strong traditions, all of which define who we are as a people. However, my time here has taught me that we don't know everything. I intend ta remain here and finish high school. If I can, I also want ta attend college, though I'm not quite sure what I want ta major in yet. We Amazons do need to have a modern education, after all. ELder Cologne said that so long as I eventually return, when I return is up to me. She has groomed me for many years ta take her place as Matriarch of our people. But I'm not sure that a warrior is the right person for that."

"Why are you calling me Elder, Shampoo?" Nodoka asked quietly.

"Elder Cologne said that I was ta treat ya as an elder, that ya had much ta teach me as well," Shampoo replied, "I'm not sure what she meant by that."

Nodoka smiled, and replied, "I'm not sure what she meant either. Shampoo, Ranma, Akane and Nabiki will soon be moving back to the Tendo home. I'd like you to move in here with me, and we can learn that together. If you would allow me the honor, I would like to act as your mother while you remain here. I have come to think of you as my daughter."

"Nothing would please me more than ta call you Mom. I missed having one while I was growing up, and I have indeed come ta think of you as my mother," Shampoo responded. She ran over and glomped Nodoka.

"I'd like that as well, daughter. However," Nodoka said with a smile, "I can tell that my son taught you Japanese."

Shampoo looked puzzled and said, "What do ya mean by that?"

Nodoka sighed and said, "I love my son deeply, Shampoo, but his grammar is not always the best. His speech tends to be a bit sloppy. I'm afraid he didn't have any choice in the matter, though, since Genma is the one who taught him. I suspect Akane will change that in him, so I guess I need to give you the same instruction. You'll fit in a little better in school as well, though you'll always stand out as attractive and colorful as you are."

----------------------

That afternoon, Genma looked up to see his old friend and training partner, Soun, standing in the doorway to his hospital room. Genma scribbled a note that read, "It's good to see you, Tendo. I've missed our games of shogi." 'Not to mention your sake,' Genma thought.

Tendo grimaced to see the damage that Ranma had inflicted on his old friend. 'What you're about to do isn't much better, is it, Tendo?' he thought to himself. "Saotome, old friend, I have the proverbial good news and bad news to tell you," Tendo said, "Which would you like to hear first?"

Genma grunted and scribbled some more on his pad, "What's the bad news?"

Soun rubbed his eyes wearily and replied, "I've had a long talk with all of my daughters. They are all in agreement on this matter. For the sake of reuniting my divided family, I am forced to ask you to leave our home. Our friendship is important to me, but my daughters are the world to me, and I need them back."

Saotome replied via his pad, "I understand, Tendo. You need to do what you need to do. Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. I'll just move in with Nodoka, after all. What's the good news?"

"Ranma and Akane were wed yesterday, joining our two schools," Soun said simply, "They were tired of waiting, I guess. The ceremony went off reasonably well, except for Kodachi Kuno crashing the wedding and trying to interrupt it. They'll be by I'm sure to talk to you once they get back in town. They took a short trip but they'll be back for school tomorrow, they said."

Genma wrote on his pad, "That's good news, all right. In spite of everything, I do wish the best for my son."

"As do I with my daughters," Soun replied. He pulled a portable game board from the bag he was carrying and began to arrange the shogi pieces on the board. "Now, shall we play a few games?" he asked.

----------------------

Nodoka and Shampoo met Soun at the hospital. Soun was just stepping out of the elevator as they were about to board. "Hello, Soun. Did you just come back from visiting Genma?" Nodoka asked.

"Hello, Nodoka. Yes, I spent the afternoon playing shogi and talking to him. I told him about Ranma and Akane getting married as well as the girls' demand that he leave my house. He took it reasonably well," Soun replied.

Nodoka grimaced, and replied, "Soun, I know his friendship means a great deal to you, in spite of everything that he has done. But I don't understand why."

"You wouldn't understand unless you'd gone through the things we did training under our Master. That forged a bond that will be hard to break. I'm not happy with how he's turned out; he's not the man I trained with. He obviously took on many of the Master's traits. I'm afraid he lost sight of who he was and instead focused only on his goal of training his son to be the best martial artist," Soun replied. The elevator returned to the ground floor and Nodoka and Shampoo got on it. "Good evening, you two," Soun said, as the doors closed, carrying the two women upstairs to his injured friend, hoping that they wouldn't hurt Genma even more.

Nodoka and Shampoo entered Genma's room, surprising the patient lying on the bed. His face lit up, what they could see of it, as he saw his wife. Nodoka frowned at him, and said, "Genma, we need to talk. I have come to a decision! I've had a long time to think about everything you've done and to put it politely, I'm not happy with you. After weighing everything that you've done, I have decided that you have failed in your pledge to teach my son to be a man among men. A man so lost to honor as yourself could never have taught anything about how to be manly."

Genma began to cringe. He wrote quickly on his pad, "Please don't make me commit seppuku, I don't wanna die!"

"You miserable worm! You disgust me," she said icily, "No husband, we will merely end this farce of a marriage. It is your choice however; it can end with divorce or your death. I have no intention of allowing you to do something so honorable as seppuku, though."

He began scribbling frantically, "Divorce, divorce, divorce."

Nodoka eyed him coldly and replied, "Excellent choice. I have started the paperwork already. We can end this farce of a marriage as soon as it is ready. I have already removed Ranma and myself from the Saotome clan roll and placed back on the Himura clan roll. Your turn, daughter."

Shampoo smiled evilly as she saw the cringing Saotome. "Old man, I had a talk with my clan Elder. Due ta your lack of honor, she dissolved the Kiss of Marriage I gave ya. You are not worthy to be my Airen!" she said. She walked over and kissed him on the right cheek. "Thus the Kiss of Marriage is annulled," she said, "I'm so glad that's over with. The mere thought of being your wife was enough ta make me ill. Ya can't imagine how relieved I was when great grandmother said she never had any intention of me marrying ya."

Genma wrote on the pad, "So what am I supposed to do once I get out of the hospital? Where am I supposed to go? Soun has already told me that I am no longer welcome at his house, and obviously, you won't allow me in yours. I am a penniless man, without a yen to his name. Can't you have some pity on me?"

"I am not totally without pity, Genma. We will give you enough money to get out of town, and find a job. Once that's gone, you'd better be employed, so don't spend it all drinking your sorrows away," Nodoka replied, "But don't try my patience anymore. What you have done to my son, to the Tendo family, and to this poor girl, is inexcusable. You're lucky I don't feel completely blameless in this mess, or you wouldn't be getting this much. I allowed you to take Ranma away, and then I supported you and Nabiki in that fiasco at the Tendo home. Fortunately for me, Ranma and Akane loved each other enough to defy us and leave. Even more fortunately, Akane talked Ranma into forgiving me."

"Ranma is a good man, Saotome, maybe too good," Shampoo said, "I would have killed ya instead of letting ya live. If we were back in China, you'd have been made an object lesson on how not ta raise children or treat women. Of course, the object lesson would have been long and drawn out, and, oh by the way, very painful." Shampoo glared at the groveling man, and then stalked out of the room.

Nodoka stared at the wreck of the man she had once loved, and sighed. She said, "How did it come to this, Genma? Was your rash pride in wanting to have Ranma be the best martial artist worth what it has cost you? Why did you change into the abuser you became?"

Genma stared stonily into space and then wrote, "Even after you and I wed, I never thought I was really worthy of you. You were so beautiful, talented and smart. I knew your parents, especially your father, weren't happy with me. If it hadn't been for my father forcing your father into honoring the pledge that he had made, your father wouldn't have consented. I know they went to their graves believing that you had married beneath yourself. I hoped that by raising Ranma as the greatest martial artist that ever was would show them that I was indeed man enough for their little girl. Was it worth it? No, it has cost me everything that I love. My son detests me, and my wife despises me. The only thing that I have accomplished is blowing away like dust in the wind. As to why I did what I did, I honestly thought I was training Ranma in the best manner possible. After all, it was the way I was taught as a child. Do I have regrets? Yes, I regret more than you can know going to Jusenkyo. I regret not reading that manual more fully about the neko-ken. Do I regret that Ranma is indeed the martial artist that I dreamed he would be? Not in the slightest."

"I see," Nodoka said coldly, "Even now, at the end, you still misunderstand. It hurt Ranma more than you could possibly know to have to fight you the other day. At one time he looked up to you, but you betrayed him on so many levels, he didn't even recognize all of them. And then, to try to take him away from the woman he had come to love, that loved him in spite of all of his flaws, and then to drive another girl that he cared deeply for to the brink of suicide. That almost brought him to the point of killing his own father. If he hadn't stopped short, he would no longer be a martial artist. He would have been a killer, and I don't think he would have wanted to live like that. If he had killed you, I know that he would have given up on martial arts. What he did to you, sickened him, and he's having a hard time forgiving himself for that. At a time when he should be enjoying his new bride, he still has to look himself in the mirror and see haunted eyes looking back at him. I hope you feel real proud of yourself."

Genma wrote, "Only the hottest fires can forge the strongest steel. Leave me to my shame in peace."

"You're a fool, Genma Saotome," Nodoka replied. She then spun on her heel, and left, no longer caring what happened to the man she once cared for so deeply.


	11. Merry Wife of Nerima

Chapter 11 Merry Wife of Nerima

Akane and Ranma ran breathlessly through the gates of Furinkan High School, Akane yelling, "Hurry Ranma, or we'll be late!!'

Ranma yelled back, "Hey, who was it that decided we could take the later train?"

Akane blushed beet red as she remembered why she had wanted to take the later train. They ran up the stairs to their classroom, only stopping long enough to throw a small suitcase into Akane's locker. The two of them entered their classroom and sat down in their respective seats just as the final bell rang, effectively stilling the buzz of conversation that had started as they had made their entrance.

The teacher mechanically called roll, marking off those that answered. When he called the name 'Saotome,' he was surprised that there was no response from Ranma. He looked up and repeated 'Saotome?' looking straight at Ranma.

Ranma smirked and replied, "It's Tendo now, sensei. Ranma Saotome is no more. We'll get the records straight in the office as soon as possible."

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Tendo," the teacher said dryly, "Thank you for gracing us with your presence today. I'm sure there are other things you would rather be doing this morning."

Ranma and Akane blushed as all of the girls giggled and the boys whistled. After allowing several minutes of the cacophony to reign, the teacher coughed loudly to get the class's attention and said, "Now that we've got that out of our system, we do have a lesson to get through today. IF there are no other surprises, then lets finish the roll call." The class settled down, though both Ranma and Akane knew that this was only a brief respite from the inquisition that Akane's friends were going to give her. For the first time in his life, Ranma was giving serious consideration to skipping lunch.

Ranma was correct. Lunch was a disaster. He had tried to escape with his wife, but he had been cut off by several of Akane's girlfriends. She had smiled at him, and then reluctantly followed her friends outside. The displeasure showing on his face was enough to allow him to plow through the horde allowing him to sit near Akane, but he couldn't reach her through the crowd of girlfriends sitting around her. From the occasional snatch of conversation, and the rosy hue on Akane's cheeks, Ranma decided that maybe he didn't want to sit too close and hear what they were talking about. He was sure he would rather not know after he stopped to consider it. He moved away a few feet to where he couldn't overhear the conversation. Unfortunately, that allowed many of the boys to surround him.

Ranma decided to be proactive and said, "I'm not going to answer any questions about my marriage. That is between Akane and I and no one else. The only thing I will say is that it is every thing that I hoped it would be. If anyone else has any questions, I suggest they remember who I am and that if I don't like the question, I may get physical." He glared around at the other boys and asked, "Are there any other questions?" The crowd melted from around him as he cracked his knuckles. As all of the boys disappeared, Ranma grinned and said, "I thought not."

Finally the afternoon classes were over and Ranma and Akane could escape the crowds of people. They made their to his mother's home, where, as soon as they got there, Akane was ambushed by her sisters and Nodoka and dragged away to the guestroom to talk about the weekend.

Ranma found Soun in the living room, surrounded by several papers. Soun looked up, startled to see Ranma there. "Hello Ranma, how's married life treating you?" Soun asked.

Ranma grinned and said, "I can't complain. Of course, it's only been two days. The only problem was at school, where I had to threaten the perverts to keep them from asking questions that I wouldn't answer.

"I went to see Genma yesterday to play shogi and to talk. I let him know about you and Akane getting married. He was happy to hear that; he said he only wanted you to be happy after all. I also told him of the girls' demand that he leave our house. He understood that while I valued his friendship, reuniting my family had to come first," Soun said with a sigh, "I will miss him staying there. I know he isn't a very good person in many respects, but we shared many years together. I'm sorry that his actions caused the two of you to become estranged."

Ranma smiled sadly, and said, "It' funny, but I'll miss him as well, Mr. Tendo. He's been the only parent I've known and the only constant in my life. There are some good memories in those ten years, but also a lot of bad ones. He made many foolish decisions and now he has to suffer the consequences for what he did. It's sad in a way, he wanted me to marry one of your daughters so he could live in comfort, but he screwed up big time and now has lost everything that he once held dear."

"Yes, I feel pity for him as well because of that," Soun responded, "I'm not sure what he is going to do once he leaves the hospital. Your mother told him about her plans for him as well. From talking to her today, that seemed to hurt him more than anything else that have happened to him. I'll probably find out when I go see him later today. I owe him a few more games of shogi."

Ranma sighed and said, "I'll have to see him again as well, Mr. Tendo. I still feel guilty for what I did to him."

"Ranma, I've been meaning to ask you this before. Do you suppose you could call me Soun or maybe Dad?" Soun asked, "After all, you're my son-in-law now, so there's no real need to be that formal anymore."

Ranma replied, "I'd be honored to call you Dad. I was just a bit reluctant to do so without your permission."

Soun hesitated and then asked, "Do you need to talk to someone about the fight, Ranma? If so, I'd like to listen."

"It wasn't a fight, it was a beating. I outclassed him by so much it wasn't fair at all. I feel like I abused the art by what I did to him. We're supposed to protect the weak with our skills, but instead I brutalized him," Ranma said in self-disgust, "He is a foolish man who would have destroyed the reputation of the Saotome School, but he didn't deserve what I did to him."

Soun said sympathetically, "Ranma, so long as you realize that, I believe you've learned a valuable lesson. Your ability in the art is a gift, one that I don't believe you'll misuse again. It's a painful lesson to learn, especially for someone still as young as you are, and I'm sorry you had to learn it the way you did. But now that you've learned it, you'll be a better person for it."

Ranma's face cleared as the words registered. He said thoughtfully, "Genma said much the same thing when I talked to him at the hospital. It's funny, but hearing you agree with him and tell me this makes me feel a bit better about the situation."

"When are you and Akane going to come home?" Soun asked, "You know that I intended to give the house and dojo to the two of you as a wedding present. I filed the necessary paperwork for that today while I was at the town hall for my council meeting. I made your mother and myself the trustees until you turn twenty-one, I hope that meets with your approval."

Ranma said quietly, "I know that had been your plan. I love Akane and would have married her without that. While the dojo means a great deal to her, it doesn't really matter to me where I am so long as I can teach martial arts. I care about it, of course, since it is the only real home that I have ever known, but to her, it is a place of many memories. I don't know how soon we'll come back. I know Mom likes us here, and Akane and I haven't had a chance to think about our future yet. I know it would make more sense for us to live there, now that we have several classes to teach. At least until we graduate from high school and head off to college, anyway."

Soun smiled at the young man he was proud to call his son, even if it was only by marriage. "Yes, we've made a good start with the classes we've started. I'll try not to run it into the ground while you two are away at college. I've actually come to enjoy the classes that I have been teaching. I'm glad you encouraged me to start teaching again. I haven't felt this good about things in a long time," Soun said.

Ranma grinned, and replied, "You mean twisted your arm, doncha? I'm glad you're enjoying yourself though. You're a good instructor; I've learned a few things from you myself about teaching. You've also shown me how much more I need to learn. That's one of the reasons that I realized that I need to continue on to college and get a degree."

----------------------

After Kasumi and Nodoka had left the guestroom to begin preparing dinner, once they had successfully embarrassed Akane with all of the questions they had asked, Akane stayed behind to talk to Nabiki. She hesitated and then said, softly, "Sis, I want to thank you for all the help you gave us in getting the wedding together so quickly. We wouldn't be married now if it weren't for what you did. I know it has to be hard for you, though."

"Akane don't worry about me. Seeing how happy this has made the two of you makes me realize how selfish I was in trying to tear you apart. My helping you with the wedding is only a partial payment of the debt that I owe, and I always pay my debts in full," Nabiki replied.

Akane sighed as she said, "Sis, Ranma and I have forgiven you, why can't you forgive yourself?"

Nabiki smiled thinly and replied, "I can't until my debt to you is repaid."

"And when will that be? When you're old and grey? As far as we're concerned there is no debt. You've more than made up for what you did. I can't blame you for fighting for the man you loved, I would have done the same thing if it had looked like Ranma was going to pick someone other than me," Akane replied.

Nabiki sighed as she replied, "Yes, but you would have tried to convince him he had picked the wrong girl by showing him how much you loved him, and allowed him to make his own choice. And once he had made that choice, you would have accepted it, not continue to fight it."

"I'm not sure I agree with you about that, Sis. I had a hard time with my jealousy when all three of us were dating Ranma. There were times when I actually hated both you and Kasumi. I don't know if I would have been so quick to give him up if he had picked either of you over me," Akane admitted.

Nabiki replied, "You know that actually makes me feel a little better to find out that I'm not the only one who wouldn't lose gracefully. The thing that makes what I tried to do so horrible, though, and the reason I'm still having a hard time forgiving myself, is that I never really was in the running. Ranma likes me, I know, in spite of everything, but he never came to love me, at least not romantically. When he looks at me, I can tell that all he sees is a sister, not a lover. If I had realized that sooner, all of us would have been better off, especially me. No, the real competition for his love was only between you and Kasumi."

"Well, this conversation certainly got depressing in a hurry," Akane said as she smiled sadly, "So I'm going to change the subject. Ranma and I wanted you to come with us to a play this Wednesday. We've got tickets to a murder mystery at one of the theatres. It's our way of saying thank you for the wedding, and we're not taking no for an answer."

Nabiki giggled and said, "Then I guess I'd better say yes. Seriously, I'd love to come. You know how much I like murder mysteries."

"Good, it's settled then," Akane said with a smile.

----------------------

Ranma escorted Akane and Nabiki into the theatre. Nabiki asked, nervously, "Are you sure you two don't mind me being with you? I feel like such a fifth wheel, right now."

Akane giggled and replied, "Nonsense, Nabiki. We want you to have a good time tonight."

Ranma winked at Akane and added, "She's right, Biki-chan. Besides, I kinda like having the two most attractive women in the theatre on each arm. Does wonders for the male ego."

Akane snorted and said, "Yeah, like your ego needs to get any bigger."

Nabiki giggled attractively and replied, "It would be a shame to waste this ticket, anyway."

Ranma picked up three programs and led the way to their seats. After finding the right row, he waited for Nabiki to make her way to the innermost seat of the three. Then he said, "Have a good time, Nabiki. We'll see you later. Our seats are in a different section." Then he leaned forward slightly and said, "Hello," to the white-robed occupant of the seat next to Nabiki.

"Hi, Mousse," Akane added, as Nabiki turned to stare at the person sitting next to her.

"Why do I get the feeling we've been set up, Nabiki?" Mousse asked.

Nabiki smiled and replied, "Because I think we were. My too clever sister is playing matchmaker, I think."

Akane giggled and replied, "Maybe a little. When Ranma went to thank Mousse for his help with Kodachi, Mousse mentioned that he wanted to see this play. That gave me the idea; I have to admit. Bye, sis." Ranma and Akane left to make their way to their seats.

"I'm sorry that you got roped into this Mousse. My sister seems to be more of a romantic than I realized," Nabiki said.

Mousse smiled easily and replied, "It's okay, Nabiki. I wouldn't mind spending some time with you. The little bit of conversation we had at the wedding was enjoyable. I thought you had a wicked sense of humor that I really liked. Besides, you are an attractive woman, so this isn't a hardship at all."

Nabiki returned his smile with one of her own and said, "Thanks, Mousse. I could stand a little company right now to be honest. I've had a rough several days recently and could use some cheering up."

"Do you want to talk about it, or is it something private?" Mousse asked hesitantly, "I make a pretty good sounding board, I've been told."

Nabiki hesitated for a long time and then said, "Why not? What's one more person thinking that I'm an idiot going to hurt?" She paused and then continued, "I made the mistake of falling in love with someone. Unfortunately, he didn't love me and instead married the woman he loved."

"That man must have been a fool to turn you down, Nabiki," Mousse replied.

"That's kind of you to say, but Ranma's not a fool. Well, at least not always," Nabiki said.

"Oh," Mousse replied.

"Yeah, oh. I fell in love with my sister's fiancé. Brilliant of me, wasn't it?" Nabiki said, depreciatively, "Ranma's an easy guy to like. He can be charming; he's certainly good looking enough, and one of the three of us was supposed to marry him to carry on the family school."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I understand a little of what you're going through. I've been in love with Shampoo since we were three. However, she's made it very clear that she doesn't return my love," Mousse said, "So I've decided to try to move on."

"Just like that?" Nabiki asked.

Mousse smiled sadly, and replied, "Well, maybe not just like that. But there's probably no point in wasting the rest of my life chasing something that can't happen. I was just too blind to see that until recently."

"Well then, how about for tonight, I'll forget about Ranma and you can forget about Shampoo, and we can have a good time together. After the play is over, you and I can go have a romantic dinner together, and let the matchmakers think their plan is working," Nabiki said with a dangerous glint to her eye.

Mousse let his mouth curl up in a sardonic smile, and then he laughed. "That sounds like a good plan, Nabiki. I know of several nice restaurants around here, and a few of them also have a nice little dance band, if you're into that," he replied.


End file.
